


How many have you forgiven today?

by SarcasticBrony



Series: How many-verse [2]
Category: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drama, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-09-18 17:22:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 110,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16999320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarcasticBrony/pseuds/SarcasticBrony
Summary: Things are a lot better for Anon since the events of Ponyville. His store is doing great and he enjoys the company of all his friends. As the days go on, he finds that the problems of the past are quick to haunt him as he is forced to face the one thing that hurt him the most.





	1. That was then, this is now

**Author's Note:**

> Anon is sitting in the living room of his old house in Ponyville, with a few noticeable changes. The first is his giant fifty inch TV that’s hanging on the wall. The second thing is the smoldering remains of his gaming console. The last is a rather peeved-looking Luna staring at the destroyed technology, with a small amount of smoke coming off of her horn. Well, he wasn’t really expecting that to happen.

“So... I take it you didn’t like that game?” Anon asks.

Luna scoffs as she takes a seat next to him on his couch.

“I found no joy in what your people have made.” She shakes her head. “When you said that there was a way for me to experience the battlefield once more, I thought it was going to be something traditional.”

“What was wrong with it?” Anon asks, curious.

“What _wasn’t_ wrong with it?” Luna looks at him. “First, I do not appreciate how those soldiers fought. They gave no chance for their opponents to fight back! Such dishonorable actions would be punishable back in my day. Not only that, but there’s no comparison to claiming the life of your enemy in reality. To put yourself at risk, knowing that each thrust of your sword could be your last.”

Anon shrugs. “I guess you’re right. I just thought maybe you would’ve liked it. I could try and remember more games for you, but my memory isn’t what it used to be.”

Luna takes a deep breath to calm her nerves. It’s true that when Anon told her about these... _video games_ , she was rather interested. However, once she experienced it, she found herself disliking it quickly. She will admit that the game she played was breathtaking and revolutionary when compared to games that Equestria has today. Still, it wasn’t what she was hoping for. She can see Anon looking at her with indifference.

“I’m sorry, Anon. I thank you for sharing this with me, but I would prefer to never take part in this activity ever again.”

Anon nods. “I get it, Luna. No need to be sorry.” A small silence builds between them. “Do you really miss the old days, Luna? Having to fight so much?”

Anon notices Luna’s eyes sadden some. She lets out a sigh.

“Yes and no. On the field of battle, I felt like it was the one place where I truly belonged. Fighting side by side with my fellow ponies. Building a bond with them that could rival the blood ties to my own sister. We lived together and we died together.” She looks down at her hooves. “I’m glad that I don’t need to say goodbye to any more of my friends, but I still miss what I used to have, even if it was paved in blood.”

Luna feels something settle onto her withers. She looks over to see Anon giving her a small smile.

“I’m glad you’re here and not on some battlefield if that means anything to you.”

Luna smiles at him.

“It means a lot more than you know.” She leans over so she can nuzzle him briefly. “Shall we continue your training?”

Anon lets out a sigh.

“Yeah, I guess.”

Luna’s smile grows larger as she rises to her hooves.

“Very well, let’s return to my world.”

Anon lets out another sigh as he gets up as well. He follows Luna to a door that wasn’t in his home in Ponyville as she opens it with her magic. The both of them walk through and into the hallway filled with many doors. Anon closes his door behind him and faces Luna. She nods her head to follow and he does so. The two of them walk past a few doors until they reach one that he’s seen on more than one occasion. Pinkie’s door. Luna nods her head towards it.

“Go ahead.”

Another sigh from Anon as he walks up to the door and rests the palm of his hand flat against it. He closes his eyes and tries to concentrate.

“What do you feel?” Luna whispers.

“I don’t know.” He answers.

Luna stands onto her hind legs and rests her forehooves onto his shoulders.

“Remember what we’ve talked about. Breath in slowly, clear your mind.” She whispers into his ear.

“Easier said than done.” He scoffs.

“Just focus on my voice.” She coos. “Breath in slowly through your nose and slowly out your mouth. If you feel a thought, then accept it as your own and let it be. Once you are calm, you will feel something that is not your own, a whisper of sorts, label it and study it.”

Anon does as Luna tells him. Soon he starts to feel something odd inside of him. Luna smiles a bit, as she can sense Anon’s progress. It’s an odd feeling for Anon to explain. It’s as if he’s talking to Pinkie in this moment. Yet there are no words being shared, only a sense of being deep in a conversation with someone and knowing how they feel.

“I feel, sadness,” He says.

Luna nods, even though Anon can’t see her. He’s doing very well.

“You are correct. Your friend is having a sorrowful dream.” Luna confirms.

Anon slowly opens his eyes. It feels so weird to experience this. In a way, he’s able to connect to Pinkie on an emotional level and feel what she’s feeling in her dreams. Luna has been spending the last few months teaching Anon how to dream walk properly. He’s learned a lot of things from Luna, but it’s still a work in progress. He turns around to face Luna.

“Can I help her?” He asks.

Luna’s smile slips some.

“I’m unsure if you have that power, Anon. It’s taken you this long to be able to sense what a pony is dreaming.”

Anon gets a look of determination on his face.

“I’ve learned a lot from you, Luna. She’s my friend, I have to do something.”

“There’s a chance that you could influence her dream. You could make it worse.” Luna warns.

“I gotta try.”

Luna gives him a single nod as she falls back onto her hooves.

“Very well, I will keep a close eye on you while you’re inside. If things take a turn for the worse, I will step in.”

Anon nods back.

“I’ll try my best.”

Anon faces Pinkie’s door ready to do what has to be done. He knows he can do this, after everything she’s done, he has to at least try.

* * *

The darkness quickly fades. What Anon first notices is that he’s not in Ponyville. In fact, it looks like he’s in some kind of wasteland. All he can see is rocks, a windmill and a small farmhouse in the distance. This in itself shouldn’t be disturbing, but the fact that this entire place is being visualized makes him feel off.

“This is far from your average dream, Anon. What you see before you is a blending between her memories and her dreamworld. It’s why we can see much more than intended.”

“Should I be here?” Anon asks wondering if this is invading Pinkie’s privacy.

“Your pink friend doesn’t mind you entering her mind. However, you must remember that what you see here cannot be taken as fact or fiction. We may never know unless we dive into her mind or asked her directly.”

Anon nods. “Alright. I guess I’ll try and help her.”

Anon walks over to the lone house sitting on this wasteland. He places a few knocks on the door and waits for whatever is to come. The door opens, but Anon doesn’t see anyone. He looks down and spots a filly looking up at him. There’s something oddly familiar about her. She’s a dark pink and has a perfectly straight mane. For some unknown reason, Anon can see a strong resemblance.

“Pinkie?” Anon asks.

He notices the filly look up at him in a rather blank stare. He’s never seen Pinkie like this before. It kinda makes him feel weird inside. As if he’s looking at an entirely different pony.

“Who are you?” She asks in a neutral tone.

This is so weird. Everything about the pony before him doesn’t scream anything about Pinkie. Yet, he knows it’s her and he can see so much of himself when he looks at her. It leaves him questioning why this pony is so different to the Pinkie he knows. However, he needs to focus right now, he has a friends that needs help.

“I’m a friend.” He says.

“I don’t have any friends.” Pinkie answers.

Anon kneels so he can properly face her.

“You have more friends than you could possibly imagine.”

He can see a certain sparkle in her eye. It’s faint, but he can see it. Not only that, but he can actually feel a certain inkling of hope. It’s not his own, it’s Pinkie’s. He can feel how her soul is crying out for validation, to know that she’s not alone anymore. It’s so odd and painful to know that Pinkie is feeling like this. What could’ve made her like this?

“How do you know that?” She asks.

Anon rests his hand onto her mane as he pets her.

“Because I’m your friend.” He says with a smile.

Anon watches as Pinkie’s eyes widen. That’s all that he and Luna see before the both of them are tossed out of the door to Pinkie's dream. They crash land in the center of the hall as the door slams shut. Anon and Luna take a moment to untangle themselves as they stand back up.

“What was that?” Anon asks having never experienced that reaction before.

“She violently woke up.” Luna answers. “Sometimes when ponies are subjected to shocking things, they’ll wake up in the middle of the night.”

“Is she alright?” Anon asks concerned.

Luna nods. “She’ll be fine. A bit shaken but fine.” Luna faces Anon. “Shall we continue?”

Anon shakes his head. “I have to get up early for work again.”

“Anon, you’ve been working nonstop since your friends opened that candy store in Canterlot.” Luna says with worry.

“You know that we’ve been busy, Luna.”

“My sister hasn’t seen you in so long. Even though you live in the castle, you two haven’t spent much time together.”

Anon has nothing to say. Luna is right. Since coming here, he’s been working hard to keep up with all the orders the store is getting. He hasn’t talked to Celestia in a very long time. At best he would cross paths with her in the morning, only to say good morning and be on his way. Each passing morning he could see how much her smile faded. It honestly hurts him, but he has to focus right now. Luna walks over to Anon so she can face him.

“I am fortunate to be able to spend time with you while we sleep, but my sister cannot and she longs for your presence.”

“...How is she?” Anon asks.

“Lonely. You two were inseparable a few months ago. Now your job keeps you away from the both of us.”

Anon walks up to Luna and rests his hand on her withers.

“I have a plan, Luna. You and Celestia just need to wait a little while longer. I swear that we’ll have a ton of free time. You just have to trust me.”

Luna smiles at that. “I trust you and I know that your store means a lot to you. Still, I don’t want you to work yourself to death. My sister was on the same path, but thanks to your suggestion, she now has some time to relax. Do not follow in her hoofsteps.”

“I guess I can’t deny that.” Anon chuckles a bit as he holds up his hand. “See you later, Luna” and with that said he snaps his fingers.

In the blink of an eye, he is gone and out of Luna’s world. She must admit that he’s gotten rather good at that. She just wished he wouldn’t have learned how to actualise his thoughts with the snap of his fingers. It reminds her too much of how Discord casts his chaos magic. Luna looks down the hall with many doors. She can spare a few more minutes before she needs to wake up.

* * *

Celestia lets out a sigh as she overlooks her empty bed. Things have been far different than she expected them to be when Anon decided to live in Canterlot. She walks past her bed and into the hallway. She thought that maybe they would be able to spend more time together, but then she found out that he was opening a candy store in town. The first few weeks were fine, but then he became popular. That seemed to change a lot of things between the two of them.

For the past few months, Anon has barely spent any time with anypony other than the mares that he works with. Celestia watched from afar as he came back to the castle, too tired to even walk to his room. She can count all the times she wanted to speak to him, but held her tongue for his benefit. He’s been working so hard and she wishes she could help him in anyway possible. Yet there was nothing she could do. Even if she could, she knows Anon would’ve turned down any help she would offer. There are some things that don’t change and Anon’s stubbornness is something she’s come to accept.

She finds herself already sitting upon her throne, as she does every morning. Another sigh leaves her. She misses his company. He seemed to make her days feel brighter just by being by her side. The most she’s ever got out of him is a good morning whenever they cross paths. He doesn’t even eat dinner or breakfast as far as she knows. He just comes here to sleep and then gets up to work. It hurts her deeply to not have him near. Facing the day alone just reminds her of a time when Anon wasn’t around. Days she wishes to forget.

Perhaps she can visit him? No, that wouldn’t be wise. He’s already popular. If Celestia were to go to his candy shop, then the chances are that he wouldn’t even get time to rest his head. She hates this so much. Anon is her friends and yet her title keeps her from him. Her heart aches when she thinks about him. How much fun they have, even when it’s just the two of them alone in her sitting room enjoying some tea. The feeling brings her joy and agony in this time of loneliness.

“Your mind weighs heavy, Sister.”

Celestia jumps in shock. She looks up to see Luna standing there.

“Luna! I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there. Do you need something?” She asks.

Luna shakes her head from side to side.

“It is not I who needs something, Tia.”

Celestia feels her withers slouch.

“I know.” She rubs her eyes some. “But there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“You know I’ve been visiting Anon in his dreams. Why do you choose to stay inside your own realm?”

Celestia looks off into the distance. She would never tell her sister the truth, but her mind is a punishment of sorts. Her dreams are usually violent and filled with the many regrets she’s made in her life. She feels if she were to forget them, then they are bound to repeat. However, those dreams seemed to subside when Anon was constantly around. Though now they’ve returned in full force.

“I do not like leaving my mind, Luna. You have the power of the moon and control over dreams. It would feel wrong of me to try such things. It was challenging enough to reach out to the moon and move it.” She isn’t lying, but it’s not the entire truth either.

“I understand.” Luna says with a nod. “Anon has been talking about you. Asking how your days fare and how well you’re doing.”

Celestia looks up to her sister with interest.

“He does?”

Luna nods. “Truly. He worries about you almost as much as you worry for him.”

Celestia can feel a certain smile grow on her muzzle. It’s nice knowing she’s not the only one who worries.

“That’s good to know.”

Luna walks up to her sister. “How are you faring? It seems that with each passing day you become less responsive.”

Celestia hangs her head.

“I just miss Anon. He seems to make my days bearable.”

Luna smirks at that. “I must say that he does have a way about him. Have you thought about visiting?”

Celestia nods.

“I have, but I don’t want to put more stress on him. If I were to show up to his store, then his business may grow tenfold!”

Luna shakes her head.

“I doubt that, Sister. Anon’s shop is so popular right now, if he asked his customers to overthrow you, there’s a chance they may comply.”

Celestia finds herself giggling at that thought. She will admit that when she ate his _gummy worms_ it was an experience she will never forget. However, she hasn’t partook in most of what Anon has created. Not because she didn’t want to, but because she wasn’t sure if that would make Anon feel uncomfortable. He always gets nervous when others take in what he creates, even if he never shows it.

“His creations are truly one of a kind, aren’t they?”

Luna nods. “They are. I think you should go and visit him. I’ve done so and he was overjoyed to see a friendly face.”

Celestia can feel her heart aching at Luna’s words. Almost as if it’s calling out to do what she says. Is this right? Should she really risk going to see Anon? If what Luna says is true, then Anon really wants to see her and could use the company while he works. Anon used to sit by her side when he came to her court. So why shouldn’t she return the favor?

Celestia nods at her sister. As she rises from her throne.

“You’re right, Luna. I think It’s high time I visit Anon.”

Luna gives her sister a nod as she takes her seat on the throne.

“I will remain here till you return.”

Celestia gives her sister a smile as she makes her journey to Anon’s shop. She stops briefly to cast a glance at her sister. Luna has grown over these past months thanks to Anon. Not only that but the ponies that see her sitting upon the throne no longer show her fear. Celestia must admit that she’s grateful that Anon pushed them as far as he did. She can see the joy on her sister's face as she helps their subjects.

Celestia turns back around and walks out of the throne room. She should hurry, wouldn’t want to put this off for longer than needed.

* * *

Celestia looks around Canterlot with her princess mask on. All of the ponies on the street are bowing before her as she walks past. Has she ever mentioned how much she dislikes this? She looks over to her side expecting Anon to be there, but he isn’t. An internal sigh is all that comes out of that thought. She returns her gaze to the buildings as she scans for the address Anon gave her all those months ago. She knows it should be somewhere around here.

There it is! Celestia takes a minute to look the shop over. She must admit that it’s rather plain looking for a candy shop. Most of the food-oriented stores go out of their way to make themselves look flashy and the like. It makes sense that Anon wouldn’t like his store to look like that. She can practically feel the professionalism oozing from the very walls. He does what he does well and that’s what this building represents. Enough standing around, she can practically feel her hooves trembling at the thought of seeing him again.

She walks up to the door and opens it. A ring comes from a small bell hanging above the door. All of the ponies in line turn around. Their eyes grow wide as they see their princess standing behind them. Celestia decides to ignore this as she looks over them and towards the register. It’s the mare from before, Lyra. She pushes away a certain uncomfortable feeling that builds inside of her whenever she thinks of that mare and what she’s tried to do to Anon.

Lyra instantly notices the princess but seems to be stuck in shock. She wasn’t expecting to see Celestia come to the shop today. Then again, no other pony was expecting the same thing either.

“Here’s the next order, Lyra.” Anon says coming out from the back with a bag in hand.

Anon notices the vacant gaze Lyra is giving to someone in the crowd. Anon looks over and notices that all of the ponies are looking at something. He continues down the line until he spots what everyone is looking at. Celestia is here. He can feel a certain smile grow on his face as he walks from behind the counter and up to the princess. He doesn’t pause either as he wraps his arms around her neck.

“Long time no see, Tia.” He says.

Anon ignores all of the suppressed gasps he hears from behind him. Celestia can feel her princess mask disappear at Anon’s sudden hug. She rests her head onto his shoulders as she wraps him into her wings. She missed this, she missed this so much. Her heart aches, but it doesn’t ache for the reasons from before. She isn’t really sure why it hurts. The both of them break from one another. Celestia is smiling at Anon as he smiles at her.

“I know. It seems like it’s been ages.” Celestia says. “How’s the shop been?”

Anon chuckles. “How about we take this somewhere private?”

Celestia gives a nod as she looks over the room and notices that everypony has their jaws on the floor.

“That seems wise.”

Anon waves her to follow as he walks behind the counter and into the back kitchen. Celestia follows after him, but once she walks past the double doors, she feels her eyes widen as she looks at the kitchen. There are ponies everywhere. Each of them working on various things. She must say that this reminds her of the time she walked into her kitchen in Canterlot. So many ponies focused on creating things, the constant sound of cutlery being used. She could swear that these ponies were hard at work in the finest restaurant in Canterlot with how determined they look. They stop when they notice Celestia standing there. Anon quickly catches their attention.

“Keep working, Boys!” Anon yells. “Training isn’t over yet.”

They get back to their tasks as Anon waves Celestia to follow him. He briefly stops near Bonbon.

“What’s the count for the bonbons?”

“Count is over a thousand.” She answers. “We’re holding steady on all fronts.”

Anon smiles. “Good to hear. Keep an eye on them, I’ve got company. Do you mind if we use your kitchen?”

Bonbon shakes her head, never looking up from her paperwork.

“It’s fine.”

Anon turns to Celestia. “Let’s go, Tia.”

He walks through another set of doors and Celestia follows him. When she walks through these doors it seems a bit of a shock. This kitchen reminds her of Anon’s kitchen back in Ponyville. Very plain and minimalist. Just a simple stove, countertops, cupboards and fridge. A stark contrast when compared to the kitchen they just walked through.

“Tea?” Anon asks.

Celestia regains focus. “That would be lovely.”

Anon waves her over to a seat as he works on the tea. Celestia can feel her heart swelling in her chest as she watches Anon make her tea. It reminds her of all the times they’ve spent together. She can feel that same old smile on her muzzle as she enjoys this moment. Anon turns around and sets a saucer and teacup in front of Celestia and takes his seat across from her with his own cup.

“So what brings you around?” Anon asks.

It’s definitely been awhile since the two of them sat down and talked to one another. So he intends to enjoy it as much as he can. The words Luna spoke to him this morning still floating around in his thoughts.

“I thought it was high time to see how things were going for you.”

Anon’s smile grows larger.

“They’re going better than expected.”

Celestia takes a sip of her tea, her heart swelling once more as the taste hits her lips. Anon made it just the way she likes it. However, her mind finds itself pulled away from her tea. There are many questions she wishes to ask, but one in particular has her attention.

“May I ask why there are so many ponies in your kitchen?” Celestia asks curiously.

Anon grins at that. “That’s why it’s going so well. We managed to hire a bunch of ponies. We’ve been spending the last week or so teaching them how to prepare everything.”

Celestia feels her heart leap into her throat. Her thoughts come to a sudden halt as everything he said registers into her mind.

“D-Does that mean...”

His grin grows. “Yeah, I’ll be having a lot of free time on my hands soon.” He lets out a sigh. “Just in time too. If I had to do this any longer, I would probably have nothing more than stumps for hands.”

Celestia is beyond happy to hear this. Anon will be getting free time! This means she’ll be able to spend time with him again. If she were a lesser pony, she would be giggling like a little filly right now.

“How has stuff been over at the castle?” Anon asks.

“The usual.” She answers.

“So, boring?”

Celestia chuckled. “Yes.”

“Maybe we can do something together?” Anon asks.

“What do you mean?”

Anon rubs his chin some. “Well, Bonbon, Lyra and I were going to celebrate in private over our recent success. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind the extra company. You want to join us?”

Celestia was kinda hoping that Anon was offering to spend some time with her alone, but she can understand why he wants to do something like this. It is indeed a great reason to celebrate and she would like nothing more than to be there for him.

“I would enjoy that.” She answers.

“Maybe we can invite Luna and Blueblood as well?” Anon throws out.

“I don’t see why not?” Celestia adds. “How about Twilight?”

Celestia can see it happen in a split second. Anon’s entire mood shifts from happy to emotionless. Anon feels his mind drifting back to the time when Twilight held him in that place of hers. He thanks whatever gods there may be that he hasn’t run into Twilight during his limited time around the castle. However, now that he’ll be getting free time soon, the chances of running into her will be a matter of when and not if.

“It’s a celebration for friends.” Anon answers.

Celestia feels a sigh leave her. She’s been working with Twilight the entire time Anon’s been busy. She can see how much Twilight regrets what she’s done. How much she wants to apologize to Anon. Celestia will admit that the first few weeks she was very hard on Twilight. However, her student never complained and took what she gave her. No matter how hard the task was, she just kept pushing through it. It got to the point where Celestia was reminded of a time when Twilight thought she was tardy with a friendship report.

When Celestia sat her down and really talked to her, she found out how much Twilight felt that her punishment was not only justified but also rather lenient. She spoke of how much more punishment she deserved for what she did to Anon. It was from that day on that Celestia has taken her time to teach Twilight about pony society. Celestia still blames herself for having not taught her such things from the beginning. She saw all the signs, but she hoped that going to Ponyville would’ve brought her out of her shell. Yet that wasn’t the case and that’s why she’s here.

Twilight has come a long way, but she still has a long road ahead of her. She’ll be lucky if she is allowed to live in Ponyville by the end of the year. Still, Celestia can see that her student is truly sorry and trying her hardest to make up for her mistakes. That doesn’t mean she can force Anon to accept her, she knows that. She just wishes that he would at least try. Celestia may be upset with Twilight, but she can’t deny the years they’ve also spent together. She would be lying if she didn’t admit to feeling horrible weeks after she punished Twilight.

“I guess you’re right.” Celestia admits as she takes another sip of her tea.

Anon knows what Celestia is trying to do. Luna and him have spoken a lot about what’s been happening around the castle during his absence. He doesn’t agree that Twilight has learned her lesson. What she did can never be forgiven. Luna agrees with him, but even he can sense that she wishes for him to at least humor the thought. Mostly because of her past and being Nightmare moon. Yet he doesn’t see the both of them in the same light.

Anon told her how it was. Luna and Nightmare moon were two different ponies. There was no Nightmare Twilight, it was just Twilight doing all of those things. That’s all the information he needs to keep his distance. Anon shakes those thoughts away. He has company, no reason to waste it on that pony any longer.

“So, yeah. I should be getting a lot of free time soon.” He says trying to bring the conversation back.

“Is there anything else noteworthy?” Celestia asks.

Anon rubs his chin in thought.

“None that I can think of. I’ve met a bunch of interesting customers since the shops opened, if you can call that noteworthy.” He admits.

“Really?”

Anon nods. “There’s one mare that comes to mind. I think she’s a performer of some kind. She’s kinda weird. Always talks in the third person. Fancy Pants also stopped by on more than a few occasions to buy some candy for his wife. I guess she’s a fan of them. He seems pretty cool, doesn’t act like most of the elite class from Canterlot.”

“It sounds like you’ve found good company.” Celestia admits.

Anon shrugs. “They tend to stay around the shop longer to talk. I don’t mind much. I could name a few more, but those two are regulars.”

“So you could say that you’ve made some more friends?”

“I...Maybe?” He rubs his chin in thought. “You think I should invite them to the celebration?”

Celestia shrugs, it’s not her place to say if he should or shouldn’t invite anypony to his party. Anon starts thinking about all the ponies he would want there. A lightbulb goes off in his mind. There’s definitely one pony that he has to invite.

“Probably should send a letter to Pinkie.” He shakes his head. “That would take too long. One second.”

Celestia watches with a raised brow as Anon raises his hand and snaps his fingers. Her eyes widen as he falls asleep. Celestia quickly catches him with her magic so he wouldn’t fall onto the table.

“Anon?!” She shouts worried.

She gets up and walks closer to him. She scans him briefly and finds that nothing’s wrong with him. He’s just asleep. What is going on? Celestia jumps back some in surprise as Anon opens his eyes.

“Are you alright?” She asks him.

“Yup. She’ll be on the next train here.” He says.

Celestia is confused as she takes her seat again across from Anon.

“What just happened?” Celestia asks.

Anon looks at her confused. “Hmm? Oh! I sent a message to Pinkie. Luna has been teaching me how to dream walk and that’s a thing I learned.”

Celestia’s eyes widen at that. Is her sister actually teaching another creature about dream walking? This is definitely news to her.

“I must admit that I’m rather surprised. My sister’s been known never to teach another being how to dream walk.”

Anon shrugs. “We have a lot of free time while we’re asleep. I’m not as good as her, but I’m learning as time goes on. I can send messages pretty easily. Which is a surprise because you’d think it would be harder, but she said I picked it up rather quickly.”

“So, you sent a message in a dream? How does that work?” Celestia asks interested.

Anon takes a second to think.

“It’s hard to explain. Basically, I’m going into Pinkie’s head and tell her subconscious about the party. Everyone’s subconscious is always in a dream like state. So her subconscious will bring this thought to Pinkie and she can answer back. Pinkie knows what to look for, but if I did this to you or another pony, they would probably get confused. It would seem like your own thought, but the whisper of my own as well. Very jarring for anyone that wasn’t expecting it.”

“Can you try it with me?” Celestia asks.

She notices Anon look warily at her.

“No. It’s a lot more than what I told you. The subconscious of a pony's mind can be dangerous.”

“How so?” Celestia leans a bit forward.

“You can’t control your subconscious.” Anon answers. “Everything is laid bare. If I wanted, I could see things that Pinkie never wanted me to see. Things that not even her own mind wants her to see. It’s very hard, but I have to concentrate on the message and never allow my mind to wander. If I did that for a split second, I would be flooded with thoughts and memories.”

“That sounds dangerous.” Celestia says in worry.

“It’s very dangerous. As it turns out, your sister and I have a lot more in common than I once thought.”

Celestia feels her brow raise. “Why do you say that?”

“Luna said that it’s best to experience the pain so that the mind will never wonder. She let me into her subconscious to send a message and then told me to think of something else. That fraction of a second was all it took. I lived a small portion of her life. Sure, it’s largely a jumbled mess, but I got the gyst of it.”

“She, allowed this?” Celestia asks in disbelief.

Anon nods. “She did. Of course, she hid away some things. Luna’s mind is very sharp, she just let me experience the good times in her life and not the times of war or her Nightmare moon thing. Don’t get me wrong, the flood of memories was painful, to say the least. It’s also hard to separate what are your memories and thoughts and what is another's memories and thoughts. Thankfully Luna was there shielding my mind so I could cope better.”

“I-I don’t know what to say.” Luna hasn’t told her about what she and Anon have been doing.

“It’s fine. Luna was right as well. Since then I haven’t allowed my mind to wander when I’m in another pony's head, well, at least in their subconscious. Dreamwalking can get confusing. She thinks I can become a dream walker of her caliber one day. I doubt that, but we have fun.”

Celestia may have to talk to her sister some about this. For now she can table it.

“It’s good to know that you’re getting along well with Luna.” Celestia admits.

Anon chuckles. “How’s she been handling the throne? She doesn’t talk much about that stuff, mostly dream walking business.”

Celestia smiles at that. “It reminds me of the old days. I’m looking into getting her a throne to sit beside mine.”

“That’s great. I’m happy to hear that she’s doing so well. I know you both were pretty nervous when she started.”

Celestia nods. “I was, but it’s good to know that my fears were unfounded.”

Their attention is taken from them as Lyra walks into the kitchen.

“Um, Anon?” She asks nervously.

“Hmm?” Anon turns to face Lyra.

She looks between the princess and Anon unsure if she should be interrupting them, but soon faces Anon to tell him why she’s here.

“I just wanted to tell you that Trixie is here.” She says.

Anon smirks at that. “Can you show her here?”

She nods and slowly walks out. Celestia finds her mind going back to this mare. How is Anon acting so normal around her? Again that strong feeling is starting to well up inside of her at the thought of that mare. How she tried to seduce Anon. The thought alone makes her feathers ruffle, nostrils flare and fur stand on end. She’s quick to control it, but it’s not easy.

“You’re probably wondering why I’m so nice to Lyra.”

Celestia looks over to see Anon staring at her dead in the eyes. He’s still smiling at her, but she can see a certain harsh gaze he’s giving her. As if he can sense her desire to put that mare into her dungeon.

“It’s a thought.” No reason to lie.

“We had a long talk with each other. I understand how she feels and I can’t blame her for that. As long as she keeps herself in check, then I’m alright with whatever thoughts she wants to have.”

“Do you not worry she will break her promise?” Celestia presses a bit harder than she intends.

“Bonbon’s been keeping her in check lately. I trust her enough to wrangle Lyra in when she needs to.”

Celestia lets out a sigh, if things are working for Anon she has no right to try and tell him what to do. The doors that led to the kitchen come flying open. An azure colored mare is standing there looking rather smug. Sitting atop her head is a large mage’s hat and a equally large cloak lays upon her back. The two pieces of clothing are covered in various star patterns.

“Look upon me in awe human as the great and power-” The mare comes to a halts as she looks at the princess like a deer in the headlights.

“Celestia, this is Trixie. Trixie, my friend Celestia.” Anon introduces them.

Anon watches with a smug look of his own as Trixie tries to say something, but little more than her breath leaves her mouth. Celestia can see this as well, so she decides to break the ice and takes initiative.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Celestia extends her hoof.

Trixie shakily raises her hoof and rests it onto the princess’. Celestia gives it a few shakes and moves her hoof back. The mare still looks rather shaken, but overall a lot calmer than a few moments ago.

“So what brings you here, Trix?” Anon asks.

Trixie looks over at Anon, back to the princess, then back to Anon.

“T-Trixie wished to know what you were up to.”

Anon shrugs. “Same old, same old. We’re almost done teaching the new employees.”

Trixie looks at him brightly. “Does that mean you will be getting free time?”

Anon nods. “Yup. Speaking of free time. You want to join my friends and I for a party we’re throwing for this occasion?”

Trixie clears her throat some as she tries to remain composed.

“Well, it wouldn’t be much of a party if Trixie wasn’t there.” She says full of confidence.

Anon chuckles at that.

“Well, can you let Trixie know that she’s invited if she’s interested?”

“What time would this party be?” She asks.

Anon shrugs. “Probably Saturday, around five”

“Where will it be?”

“The castle.” Anon adds. “Nothing fancy, just friends hanging out.”

“Trixie will patiently wait.” She says with a smile. “May Trixie ask if you have her order?”

Celestia looks over to see Anon realize something.

“Oh! Yes, one sec.”

Anon walks over to one of the cupboards and reaches in. He pulls out a small bag. He walks over to Trixie and hands it to her. She takes the bag with her magic.

“Trixie thanks you for taking the time to make her order.”

“It’s no problem. See you Saturday.”

Trixie gives Anon a wave and a small bow to the princess just before she leaves. Anon returns to his seat and faces Celestia.

“Custom order?” She asks.

Anon nods. “Yeah, some ponies can’t process pure sugar that well. So we custom make candy that uses alternatives. It’s pretty popular and we don’t charge extra.”

Celestia can’t help the swell in her heart. It’s so hard to believe that this is Anon. Well, she’s always known this Anon, but to see him acting like this with other ponies makes her feel as if the world is perfect. She’s always thought about a day like this, but to actually experience it is still a bit shocking. It almost makes up for all of the hardships from the past, she can only hope this trend continues.

“It’s good to hear how well you’re doing.” Celestia takes another sip of her tea.

“We’ve been working very hard. In a few days, we’ll finally be able to get some down time.”

“What plans do you have once your time is made free?” Celestia asks.

Anon takes a second to think about that. Celestia is right. He’s never really thought much about what he will do once he is free from his work. His life was simple. Get up, go to work and then sleep. What will he do now once his job is no longer a choice? It seems so odd to think about it in such a way. He always thought his job would be a constant.

“I... do not know.” He answers. “I guess I’ll just see what happens.”

“Would you like to spend time together?” Celestia offers.

“That should go without saying.”

That gets Celestia smiling. Anon looks over at the clock hanging on the wall.

“Damn, I gotta head back into the kitchen.” He gets up from his chair. “Sorry for such a short visit but I need to keep a close eye on those cooks. One slip of the hoof and we could lose an entire batch of candy.”

Celestia shakes her head. “No need to explain. I understand that you still have a few days before you can trust your employees.”

Anon rubs the back of his neck. “So weird to think of them as _my_ employees.” He looks at Celestia and waves for her to follow. “I’ll show you out.”

Celestia nods at him as she follows. The both of them walk out of the back kitchen and into the main store. Anon stops at the register to talk to Lyra as Celestia walks past him and towards the door. Anon then catches up with Celestia and opens the door for her. For some reason Celestia feels her cheeks redden as she walks out.

“One last thing.” Anon calls out.

Celestia turns and sees Anon is holding two bags in his hand. One has her cutie mark on it and the other has what appears to be Bluebloods mark.

“For you and Luna to share.” He hands her the one with her mark. “It’s something I’ve been working on. Tell me what you think when I come back tonight.” He then hands her the other. “And something special for Blue.”

Celestia gives a nod and takes the bags into her magic.

“Will we see you at dinner?” She asks.

Anon nods. “Definitely. See you around, Tia.”

Anon walks up to her and wraps his arms around her neck. She’ll never grow tired of this. She nuzzles his neck some before he pulls away.

“See you later, Anon.” Celestia says.

Anon turns around and walks back inside. Celestia takes a moment to compose herself. She isn’t too sure why, but her heart was beating faster than normal when Anon was hugging her. Even her cheeks feel a bit warm. She hopes she isn’t getting sick. No need to worry, she better head back to the castle to see how her sister is doing.


	2. Change is never easy

Anon walks back into the store and closes the door behind Celestia. He wasn’t expecting her to show up out of the blue like that, but he’s not complaining about it either. Ever since his talk with Luna, he’s been worrying about Celestia. It’s good to see that she’s doing alright and he hopes the treats her gave her will keep her day from getting dark. He turns back around and noticed all the ponies looking at him in awe. He rolls his eyes as he walks past them and towards Lyra.

There’s still so much that he needs to do today. The first things he needs to check on is all the cooks. Then he’ll need to make sure that all the ingredients are stored properly, he remembers how disastrous the day was when somepony put the sugar in the flour bin. Not to mention he has to package all the leftover candy to be sold at a discount for today. To add to it all. He’ll have to get ready so he can have dinner with Celesti-

Anon feels his entire body freeze up as his mind kicks into overdrive. Wait... If he goes to dinner. Then... His body starts to shake some as it tries its hardest to suppress the sudden want to scream. Twilight... Twilight will be there. If he goes then he’ll have to see her. There’s no way he can somehow ignore her. He knows that she’ll be there, _examining_ him. Just waiting and watching, looking for any opportunity to experiment on him again!

Lyra instantly notices Anon standing frozen in the center of the shop. Most of the ponies are standing there looking at him confused. Lyra turns to her current customer.

“One moment.” She walks from behind the counter and up to Anon. “Anon?”

He’s not responding. Plus he has a rather distant look in his eyes. She’s seen this look before. She needs to get him upstairs so he doesn’t cause a scene. She gently takes his hand into her magic as she guides him to the stairs. Anon is on autopilot as he follows her lead without pause. Lyra gets him to her room and sits him onto her bed.

“Anon.” She stands onto her hind hooves and places her forehooves onto his knees so she can face him. “Are you alright?”

He can’t believe he agreed to see that pony. There has to be some way he can get out of this? He knows that will probably hurt Celestia, but he can’t stand the thought of seeing that pony right now. A sudden idea comes to his mind. A devious one, but it’ll work.

“Sorry, Tia.” He talks to himself. “It seems that my cooks just weren’t ready. I had to stay _all_ night cleaning up their mess. In fact, I’ll need to stay at the shop until the party.”

Lyra cocks her head slightly as she hears Anon mumbling to himself. She flinches back some as she feels something start to scratch her ear. She notices that Anon is now looking at her, the far-off look in his eyes is gone. That matters little to her right now, seeing as she’s reveling in the feeling of his hand scratching the back of her ear.

“Now that I think about it. It was rather rude of me to deny staying here at the shop when you and Bonbon offered me a room.”

Lyra can’t even answer as she melts into his hand.

“I’ll still be living at the castle, but I think I can stay here for a few nights. At least until we’re done training these ponies.”

Lyra nods her head dumbly. She doesn’t even know what Anon is talking about. She’s in her own world right now as she relishes in his touch. Sadly he removes his hand from her. Lyra’s mind is still cloudy as Anon gets up from the bed.

“I’ll let Bonbon know.”

“Hmm?” She asks in a dreamy tone.

“I’m going to let Bonbon know I’ll be staying here for a few days.”

Lyra snaps out of her daze as those words register into her mind. Anon’s going to be staying here! A big goofy smile appears on her face.

“You needs to get back to the customers. I’ll talk to Bonbon.” Anon says as he pats her head before he walks out of her room.

Lyra feels her body follow after him like a love sick pup. She can’t believe that Anon’s going to be sleeping in the same place as her. She feels herself stop in front of the register. All of the ponies in line flinch back some as they see her impossibly large smile.

“How may I help you!” She shouts with excitement.

* * *

Anon walks up to Bonbon. He feels horrible for doing this, but deep down inside he knows that he isn’t ready to see that pony yet. He’ll do anything in his power to avoid her, even if that means he has to hurt Celestia’s feelings. Even that thought is enough to make him wince inside. Still, his fears are calling the shots right now.

“Hey, Bonbon. Is that invitation to stay here still open?”

Bonbon quickly looks up from her paperwork towards Anon.

“What? Why now?”

Anon shrugs. “It seems weird for me to walk all the way from the castle to the shop. So I might as well stay here until we’re done teaching these guys.”

Bonbon feels a brow raise. “But, we only have a few days until we’re done.”

Anon nods. “Yeah. It does seem odd, but what can I say. I’m an odd guy.”

Bonbon doesn’t feel right. She’s getting a weird feeling that Anon isn’t telling her what’s really going on in his head. She’s been getting pretty good at knowing how he feels lately. They’ve practically spent all hours of the day together thanks to the shop. So she knows something’s wrong, but she doesn’t know what it could be.

“Is that really the reason?” She asks with a skeptical look.

Anon doesn’t want to lie. Yet, he doesn’t want to tell her the truth either. It’ll just make Bonbon worry or worse, get over protective. So it’s best to just play around the idea and try to keep as much as he can to himself. There’s no reason to drag her into this.

“I can assure you that my reasons for staying here are valid.”

There he goes again. He doesn’t actually tell her what the problem is, but instead tells her that there’s a reason for his actions. She shakes her head with a tired sigh. She honestly doesn’t have a problem with him staying here, but she does have a problem if he’s only doing it because he needs help. She worries, ever since the Ponyville incident, she feels slightly responsible for not having noticed before hoof. Yet she also knows that if he doesn’t want her to know, then she can’t force it out of him.

“Alright.” She relents.

He smiles at her. That’s one thing no longer on his mind. At least, until her remembers what Celestia and him talked about earlier. He might as well let Bonbon know.

“Is it cool if I invite a few ponies to that party you’re throwing?”

Bonbon looks at him in disbelief.

“Anon! I wanted that party to be between the three of us.”

Anon chuckles nervously as she rubs the back of his neck. Bonbon looks at him in a deadpan.

“You invited ponies already, didn’t you?”

He nods. “I also might’ve moved it to the castle.”

Bonbon takes a slow breath in and lets it out. No need to get angry. It’s not what she wanted, but do to the recent turn of events, it seems that changes can be made.

She nods. “Two parties. The original will now be thrown for all the ponies you invited. Seeing as you’re staying here. We’ll throw our personal party early.”

Bonbon is pretty peeved with him right now. So Anon doesn’t want to question why she wants to have a private party so much. Then again, having a smaller party just between the three of them does sound nice. A way to celebrate their success. Yeah, that makes sense.

“Cool.” Anon agrees.

Their attention is taken from them as the sound of something crashing is heard from the kitchen. Anon and Bonbon look over to see Butter Hooves on the floor with pots around him. Anon shakes his head.

“What did I say about touching things?!” He shouts as he walks over to help the pony up.

“Thank you and please come again!” An enthusiastic shout is heard from the storefront.

Bonbon just shakes her head slowly as she looks down to her paperwork. She’s getting too old for this stuff.

* * *

Celestia walks into the throne room feeling brighter than ever. She didn’t even care as she walked down the streets of Canterlot with a smile on her face. Her mood seeming to affect even the most shrewd noble that was to gaze upon her happiness. Luna was correct about seeing Anon. Celestia hasn’t felt this good in months. She looks up to the throne to see her sister is sitting there while Blueblood talks to her.

“Is the moon really made of cheese?” Blueblood asks.

Luna shakes her head with a smirk. “Nay. I am surprised to know that the myth I started a few millennia ago is still around.”

Over the past few months, Celestia has been pushing those two together, seeing as they never really spent time around each other. Blueblood was rather indifferent to Luna and Luna was the same towards Blueblood. With a little time and patience, the two of them have found a liking in the other. It’s not often, but the two of them do spend time together. Luna looks past Blueblood and towards the sound of somepony approaching.

She can see her sister is back and even came bearing gifts. Blueblood notices Luna looking past him. He turns around and finds his aunty is back. Celestia walks up to the throne. She uses her magic to levitate Blueblood’s bag towards him.

“This is from Anon.” Celestia tells him.

Blueblood smiles largely at that as he quickly takes the bag and looks inside. He gives off a childlike squeal of delight.

“My favorite!” He says as he levitates a piece of chocolate out and into his mouth.

“Don’t eat it all at once.” Celestia warns as she walks up to her sister. “How are things going?”

Luna smiles. “Rather well. A few ponies have stopped by today. Nothing major, so they were quickly dealt with.”

Celestia nods. “Anon has given us something to share.”

Luna’s eyes sparkle a bit as Celestia levitates the bag between them. Luna opens the bag and quickly reaches inside with her magic. She pulls out something and brings it up so she can see what it is. The both of them feel their brows raise as they look at the piece Luna is holding. They move in closer to inspect it.

“What do you think it is?” Celestia asks.

Luna shrugs. “I am unsure.”

What Luna is holding in her magic looks like a simple ball of chocolate. Why would Anon want to give them something like this? Celestia was expecting something experimental. Luna decides to take a leap of faith as she pops the piece into her mouth. Her eyes light up as she takes her first bite.

“Oh! It’s filled with caramel!” She says, having not expected that.

Celestia reaches into the bag and pulls out a piece for herself to eat. Her eyes light up as she finds very little resistance from the chocolate. It breaks apart and she can taste the caramel trapped inside. She was not expecting something so simple and yet so surprising. She will admit that she’s in love with this! Both Luna and Celestia reach into the bag for another, then another. It doesn’t take long for the two of them to finish off the bag. In fact, they look rather sick.

“Remember, Aunty.” Blueblood speaks in his royal voice. “It’s best to eat in moderation.”

Celestia chuckles at that. “I couldn’t help myself.”

Blueblood nods. “Better to ask for forgiveness than permission.”

He leans his head back and pours his entire bag into his mouth as he slowly chews every last piece and swallows it whole. He licks his lips and rises from the floor and walks towards the door.

“I’m going to spend some time with the animals.”

“Be careful.” Celestia calls out.

Soon both sisters are left alone in the throne room.

“It was very sweet of Anon to give us a present.” Luna says.

“I must say that I enjoyed that.” Celestia admits.

The both of them clean themselves a bit. Celestia magics a small hoofkerchief to clean her muzzle while Luna simply licks it off. Celestia shakes her head with a smile as she notices that Luna missed a spot. She rolls her eyes as she floats over her hoofkerchief and cleans her face.

“Sister!” Luna squabbles a bit. “I am a grown mare, not some filly!”

“Well, I can’t let you walk around the castle with chocolate in your fur.” Celestia finishes her job. “Done!”

Luna is leering at her as she uses her hoof to wipe her muzzle again.

“I am a capable mare.” Luna says. “What if one of our subjects saw this?”

Celestia rolls her eyes.

“If Anon has taught me anything, it’s that we shouldn’t worry so much about what our subjects think.”

“You seem like a different pony.” Luna says with a raised brow. “Was your visit truly something so grand?”

Celestia nods. “I haven’t felt this good in a long time, Luna.” She blushes some. “I had these silly thoughts that Anon and I would be back at square one in our friendship, but it’s like nothing has changed between us. In fact, he’s far more open and public with his affection!”

Luna nods. “I have noticed this as well when I visited him. Since the day we punished those that have wronged him, Anon seems to be an entirely different person.”

Celestia thinks back to when she mentioned Twilight.

“Yet, he’s still the same.” She lets out a sigh.

Luna can sense that something is bothering her sister.

“What is it that ails you?” She asks.

Celestia looks at the floor.

“Anon invited us to a party. It seems that for the past few weeks he’s been training employees to run his store. So he wishes to celebrate this turn of events.”

Luna brightens up.

“That sounds wonderful!”

“I tried to invite Twilight to the party.”

Luna goes silent at that. She doesn’t need to hear any more to know what happened. She also can’t fault Anon for denying her sister. It’s Anon’s life and he can pick and choose whom he lets into it.

“Sister.” Luna calls out. “Do you know what Anon told me?”

Celestia looks up at her sister, curiosity in her eyes.

“What did he tell you?”

Luna hates to say this, but it needs to be said. It’s the only way to make her sister understand.

“He told me that there was no Nightmare Twilight.” Celestia feels her heart skip a beat. “It was Twilight doing those horrible things to him, nopony else.”

Celestia feels herself gulp some as she replays those words in her head. That hurt her deeply. It hurt her because it makes sense. Luna wasn’t the pony that did all those horrible things. As much as it may sound like a copout, but Luna and Nightmare Moon were two different ponies. True, Nightmare moon may have spawned from her sisters emotions, but the horrible things done after that were not choices made by her sister.

However, Anon’s right. The things that hurt him the most weren’t done by some magically induced alter ego. It was Twilight and her friends. Nothing more than that.

“If he doesn’t want to forgive, then that’s his choice.” Luna says firmly.

Celestia looks at her sister. “How can you say that? Do you not wish for the ponies to forgive you?”

“I’ve done nothing wrong. If they forgive me for what another pony has done, then they never truly understood to begin with.” Celestia looks to her sister in surprise. “You aren’t the only pony that can take advice from Anon.”

Celestia doesn’t have an argument for that. Anon is such a stark contrast when compared to normal ponies. Yet what he does is purely logical. Almost to the point of being cruel. Still, she can’t deny what her sister says. As much as she would wish for all ponies to come out of this feeling happy. She also knows that some scars will remain too deep for healing.

“She’s truly sorry for what she did.” Celestia says.

Luna nods. “Her nightmares are enough to confirm that. Yet that does little to mend a wound as large as Anon’s.” Luna gets out of the throne and walks up to her sister. “You have seen your friend. Do not sour this day with trivial thoughts.”

Luna’s right. Celestia feels great after having spent time with Anon. Wasting it away with negative thoughts will only make her feel worse. She closes her eyes to help clear her thoughts. Once she opens them up does she feel better.

“It’s time for Twilight’s training.” Celestia informs her sister. “Anon should be here for dinner.”

Luna nods. “I have a few things to take care of. Day court should be done for the moment.”

Celestia nuzzles her sister briefly, then turns to head over to the library. She has a feeling her student will be there. She always is.

* * *

Twilight is clutching desperately to the ladder she is standing on. Each shaky step up seems to take hours but is actually only a few seconds between each step. As soon as she’s at the spot she needs to be, does she shakily use one of her hooves to reach over to one of the books she needs. Her breaths are labored as her fear of heights starts to kick in.

With a quick grab does she get the book in her hooves. She returns her death grip on the ladder as she takes a few steady breaths to calm her nerves.

“What are you doing?”

The sudden voice is enough to make Twilight let go of the ladder. Her hooves flail in a useless attempt to grab the step she just let go of. It happens quickly as she hits the ground on her back with a noticeable thud. Twilight groans a bit from the fall. Her vision is a little blurry, but it comes back into focus as she notices Spike by her side.

“Are you ok?” He asks with concern in his eyes.

She nods as she sits up and rubs the back of her head some.

“Yeah. Just a little bump.”

Spike lets out a sigh of relief knowing he didn’t hurt Twilight.

“What were you doing?” He asks.

Twilight shakily gets back onto her hooves as she walks over and picks up the book she got. With practiced ease does she turn her head with the book in her mouth and place it onto her back.

“I finally found the book I’ve been looking for.” Twilight says as she walks over to her study.

“Why didn’t you ask me to get it for you?”

“I’m not a filly, Spike. I can get my own book.”

“You wouldn’t have that much of a problem if you took off that ring.” He says with irritation.

Twilight look up to the ring that’s still on her horn. A month ago, Shining tried to take it off of her. Twilight refused, she doesn’t think that her punishment was harsh enough. So she decided that she was going to wear this magic dampening ring until Anon forgave her.

“I’m not taking it off, Spike.” She says with finality.

He lets out a huff. “Fine. It’s not like I’m the one falling on my face.”

Twilight shakes her head. “What are you doing here? Should you be sending another letter to Rarity?”

Spike looks sadly to the floor. “She hasn’t responded to any of my letters yet. I’m worried.”

Twilight is worried as well. Applejack told her that she’s taking care of things and she shouldn't worry any. From what she hears, Rarity has locked herself away, Rainbow disappeared and Pinkie is happy but no longer throwing parties. As for Fluttershy. Well, Fluttershy has surprisingly coped well with what’s been happening. Sure her first few weeks in Canterlot were hard on her, but over time she started to see the bright side of things.

Celestia told Twilight that Fluttershy could return home whenever she wanted. It didn’t take very long for the ponies in the passive magic department to categorize and even train Fluttershy how to control her power. Fluttershy still hasn’t left, though. Twilight once asked her as to why she hasn’t gone home yet and her answer was simple.

_I haven’t seen Anon yet._

Twilight still sees her every now and then around the castle. She spends most of her time in the gardens with the animals. Twilight shakes those thoughts away. She needs to concentrate.

“She’s fine.” Twilight tries to comfort Spike.

He chuckles nervously. “Yeah, you’re right. No reason to worry. It’s not like she’s cried so much that she became dehydrated because nopony was there to give her water, so she ended up passing out and now needs help... Right?”

Twilight looks at Spike with a raised brow. “I doubt it.”

“But, it can happen?”

“No.”

“But, if it di-”

“Spike.” Twilight rests a hoof onto his shoulder. “Rarity is fine.”

He nods. “Yeah, definitely. I’m just being silly.”

“Why don’t you head on to the kitchen and have somepony make you something?”

“That’s a good idea. I haven’t eaten yet. Do you want anything?”

Twilight shakes her head. “I’m fine, Spike.”

Spike doesn’t say anything as he heads towards the door. If there’s one good thing about what’s happened, then it has to be the fact that Celestia has a large storage of gems for Spike to eat. Spike is about to open the door to the library, but it comes flying open past his face. Celestia looks down to see Spike standing there.

“Hello, Spike. Is Twilight here?”

Spike nods. “She’s by her study.”

Spike notices that the princess seems different today. Is she glowing? It seriously looks like she has a faint glow coming off of her body. He just shakes it off as a trick of the mind.

“Thank you. I’m to assume that you’re getting something to eat?”

He nods eagerly. “Yeah! It’s been awesome eating gems regularly.”

Celestia brushes one of her wings over his head in a petting motion.

“Anything for my Spikey.”

Spike can’t fight the swell of feelings in his heart. Then again, Celestia has kinda been like a mom to him and Twilight his sister. It’s only natural to feel the way he is at such attention. He giggles to himself as he runs past her and towards the kitchen. Celestia feels her smile grow at his action. She must say that she was rather heartbroken to see how sad he was when he had to leave Ponyville.

No matter. He’s been getting better as time passes. Celestia focuses herself back to her task. She walks deeper into the library. Chances are Twilight will be at her usual seat. It’s not hard to find her, seeing as the table she used was located at the center. Celestia finds Twilight already focused on whatever book she’s looking at.

Celestia walks up to Twilight and quietly takes a seat next to her. She leans slightly over her so she can see what she’s reading. Interesting. Twilight is reading about how to make amends. This isn’t unusual. On her off time, Twilight usually spends all her time trying to find a way to gain Anon’s forgiveness.

“How are you feeling?” Celestia asks.

Twilight flinches at the voice. She quickly looks over to see her teacher sitting beside her.

“Oh! I’m sorry, Princess. I didn’t hear you enter.”

Twilight tries to get up to bow, but Celestia hold a hoof up.

“No need to get up, Twilight.”

Twilight remains seated as Celestia looks at her book again.

“Learn anything?” She asks.

Twilight shakes her head. “Nothing yet.”

“Do you wish to continue your training?”

It’s not like Twilight got far into her book. She might as well start learning from the princess. She wouldn’t want to waste her time.

“Yes.”

Celestia gives a nod at that as she rises from her seat and walks over to a particular bookshelf. She pulls a book out and levitates it in front of Twilight.

“Body language?” Twilight questions aloud, as she looks at the title.

Celestia nods. “It’s important. Every creature that calls this planet home uses at least some style of body language. You, me and even Anon.”

Twilight seems to brighten at that. “Does this book have information I can use about Anon?”

Celestia shakes her head. “It does not. Even trying to reference what you learn from this book towards him will only get you into trouble.”

“Get me into trouble?” Twilight asks confused.

Celestia sets the book onto the table and walks in front of Twilight. Twilight watches as her teacher stands in front of her with a blank expression. The other thing she notices is that her tail keeps twitching from left to right in a jerky motion. What’s she doing? Twilight has never seen a pony do this before.

“What do I feel?” Celestia asks, giving no clues from her tone.

Twilight feels her mind trying to pick out what she’s doing, but it again comes up as nothing. It looks reminiscent to something ponies do, but yet not even close. She doesn’t know what to say.

“I-I don’t know.” Twilight admits.

“Guess.”

Twilight feels her face turn red. “Mating?”

Celestia feels her mask fall at that answer. She can’t help the small chuckle that comes from her as she shakes her head.

“No, Twilight. That looks a bit like this.”

Celestia’s tail movements become smoother as they sweep largely from left to right. Not only that, but she even adds a sway to her hips. Twilight can feel her face redden more as she watches her teacher do this. Celestia chuckles again as she returns to the original movement.

“Care to guess again?”

Twilight shakes her head. “No,”

“I’m irritated. What I was doing is common with griffons.”

Twilight nods her head slowly. Guess this is just another thing she doesn’t know. A sad sigh leaves her at that thought. So many things she thought were right are now being challenged. Still. She’s not going to give up.

“This is why you should never reference body language.” Celestia adds. “A normal smile to one creature may be considered an insult to another.”

“Then how would I approach a creature like Anon?” Twilight asks.

Celestia feels her features soften. “Even I cannot answer that. There’s still so much about Anon I do not understand. I can only be thankful for the small connection I can make with him to know when he’s stressed or not. Without that, I would be just as blind as you.”

Twilight nods her head slowly. If it was going to be easy, then she would’ve been done months ago. Twilight looks up to her teacher with a certain fire in her eyes.

“Show me more.”

Celestia feels her smile return at her students continued enthusiasm.

“Alright, try telling me what I’m feeling now.”


	3. Fools Gold

“How could you be so blind?” Luna whispers to herself as she hides in the shadows. “Acting so carelessly.”

Luna is hiding in the darkness of the library as she watches her sister shake her rear at her student. When Luna heard the good news about Anon coming over for dinner, she was quite thrilled. When that thought settled, a problem arose. Twilight. She knows Anon better than anypony on this planet, even more than her sister it seems. Luna knows Anon well enough to know that it’s only a matter of time before he puts two and two together.

Luna can’t even fathom what is going on in her sister's mind. Either Tia is trying to push those two into some kind of friendship against Anons wishes or she honestly forgot that Twilight is going to be in the same room as him. Well, she won’t need to worry about that. Luna is going to take care of this situation herself. She will not allow this mare to keep her friend from her. Not in body, nor mind.

“Your training is done for today, Twilight. I also have some good news to share.” Celestia says to Twilight with a smile. “Anon said he’s coming to dinner. Isn’t that great?”

Twilight’s eyes brighten at that.

“Really? I finally get to see him?”

Luna can see it from the shadows. Her sister’s smile is replaced with the smile she gives her subjects. It seems that Luna was right in one of her assumptions. Celestia forgot that Twilight would be there in her excitement. Celestia gives her student a slow nod. How could she forget that Twilight would be there?

“Yes.” Celestia turns away. “I actually need to head back to the throne room. Continue your studies, Twilight.”

Celestia quickly trots to the door of the library and leaves. Twilight can only sit there with a slightly cocked head. That seemed odd, but maybe the princess is rather busy? Twilight shakes her thoughts away as she turns back to her book. There’s still so much she can learn about body language. Who knew that the words she spoke to another pony were only a fraction of what she was saying to them. It’s amazing really.

Luna steps out of the shadows and slowly approaches Twilight. She has no idea if her sister has a plan to change this, but that matters little, seeing as Luna intends to fix this mistake herself. Perhaps it’s not healthy, but Luna will protect Anon for as long as he wishes. If he doesn’t want to see this mare, then Luna will never allow it to happen. She will never allow him to come to harm.

“Hello, Sparkle.” Luna speaks up to gain Twilight’s attention.

“Oh!” Twilight turns around to face the sudden voice. “Luna! I didn’t hear you come in.”

“I take that as a compliment.” Luna trots in front of Twilight’s desk. “Studying hard?”

“Very much so!” Twilight says with a smile. “I know that somewhere in these books, I can learn how to gain Anon’s forgiveness.”

Luna feels a sneer across her face. What is important to this pony? Earning Anon’s forgiveness or actually being sorry for what she did? There’s no point to dwell on this. Luna has a mission.

“Twilight.” Luna speaks in a royal tone.

“Yes?” Twilight give Luna her full attention.

“You will not be coming to dinner this evening. Do you understand?”

Twilight looks confused as she looks at her book, then over her shoulder to the door where Celestia walked out, then back to Luna.

“B-But I always have dinner here.“

Luna leans over the table some so she is looking Twilight deep into her eyes. She makes her features as cold and dead as the mask she used to wear on the battlefield.

“Twilight.” Luna can see the sweat already falling from Twilight's forehead. “Listen to my closely. I do not hold the same aversions that many ponies have. So understand me when I say that I will do what I must to protect what I care for most.” Luna feels a small smirk on her lips. “Dreams can be rather fun.” then her smirk falls. “They can also be nightmares.”

Twilight is frozen in shock as she looks into Luna’s eyes. There's just something off about what she sees. It’s almost as if she can’t see Luna’s soul. As if she’s face to face with a Timberwolf about to eat its prey. She can’t stop herself from shaking in place, nor can she turn away from her gaze.

“You are going to go home and have a nice dinner with your family. You will then comes back tomorrow and continue your studies. If Anon is ready, then you will see him and not a minute before. Do you understand?” Twilight’s mouth is moving up and down slightly, but nothing is coming out. “Twilight.” Luna keeps her dead gaze on Twilight the entire time. “I need you to say that you understand.”

Twilight gulps some as she quickly looks away from Luna.

“I-I un-nderstand-d.” She says in a full stutter.

Luna feels her mask disappear.

“Good. See you around, Sparkle.”

Twilight can only watch from the corner of her eye as Luna walks back into the shadows. In an instant, Luna’s presence is gone. Twilight can feel a giant weight lift from her shoulders. She doesn’t know what that was, but she thinks she isn’t going to chance fate. As much as she wants to prove to Anon how sorry she is, if he isn’t ready to see her, then there’s really no point. Twilight feels a shiver go down her spine at the thought of that look Luna gave her. She wonders what type of body language that was?

She shakily pick up her book and starts reading.

“I-I guess I sh-should get back to studying.”

* * *

“Hooves. How many times do I have to tell you this?” Anon is sitting at a table with Butter Hooves.

“I just want to help.” The pony says sadly.

“I get that, but we have rules for a reason. Things like this cannot happen when I’m gone. What if there was a batch of candy in those pots you dropped? An entire day's worth of candy, gone.”

“I know I can do it! Just give me a chance!”

Anon looks at this pony as he gives him his big pleading puppy eyes. Anon just shakes his head.

“You’re no Pinkie Pie. Those big eyes don’t work on me. Get your ass back in line and do what you’re paid to do. Otherwise, get out.”

The pony lets out a sigh and walks back over to his station.

“Couldn’t you have at least let him down easy?” Bonbon asks.

Anon scoffs. “If they wanted easy, they wouldn’t be working here.”

“Still, can’t you give Hooves a break? You know he means well.”

“He means well, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let him waste our stock.”

“We have plenty of cooks to keep an eye on him. Just let the colt try.”

Anon looks over to see Bonbon giving him _her_ big puppy eyes now. Anon just rolls his eyes with a tired sigh.

“I can’t believe this.” He gets up from his seat. “You better hope he doesn’t screw up.”

Bonbon giggles at how easy it is to get Anon to do what she says. He’s such a sweetheart. Even if he does bury it under all of that other stuff. Anon ignores Bonbon’s giggling as he walks over to Butter Hooves. Whom currently is cleaning pots with a sad look on his face.

“Hooves!”

Butter Hooves jumps slightly from the shout. He quickly turns to face his boss.

“Y-Yes?”

“You have one shot. If you screw this up, then that’s it. Get to station six and start prepping. If you need help, then ask for it.”

Anon watches as the pony’s sad mood instantly flip as he practically glows from this news.

“I won’t let you down!” Hooves says as he runs over to his station.

“No running!”

Anon shakes his head as he returns to his seat.

“He’s cute.” Bonbon says with a giggle. “Doesn’t it feel good to give a pony a chance?”

Anon looks at Bonbon with a dead stare.

“I’d prefer risks not being taken.”

“There are always risks. I took a risk when I hired you.” Bonbon scoots closer to Anon. “I like to think it worked out.”

“Perhaps I’m just more cautious than you?” Anon offers.

“Maybe. But sometimes it’s good to throw caution to the wind.”

“Maybe.” Anon looks over his shoulder at a patch of darkness that wasn’t there before. “Then again, keeping your guard up is never a bad thing. Ay, Luna?”

Another giggle is heard. Bonbon quickly looks over to the darkness where the laugh came from.

“You are the only creature that seems to know when I’m around.” Luna walks from the darkness and leans her muzzle to Anon’s ear. “I think I could truly fear you if we were to meet on the battlefield.”

Anon smirks. “Too bad I suck with a sword.” Luna walks to Anon’s side. “Good to see you.” Anon reaches over and pulls Luna into a more intimate hug.

Ever since Luna shared a portion of her life with Anon, he’s always seemed to be closer to her than usual. Luna even thinks that her friendship with him is stronger than what her sister has. Sure the both of them are rather close, but nothing compares to the bond that’s created when you allow someone to enter your subconscious freely.

Luna wraps her wings around Anon.

“It’s always a pleasure when we meet face to face.” Luna pulls away from the hug. “My sister brings word that you’ll be joining us for dinner?”

Luna can see the smile leave Anon’s face. It’s just as she thought. He doesn’t intend to go. She can see that he’s about to say something, so she cuts in.

“Good thing Twilight won't be there.”

She notices Anon’s full attention on her.

“Twilight isn’t going to be there?”

Luna nods. “Correct, she’ll be having dinner with her parents. She said something along the lines of a family gets together. You know how random that mare can be.”

Anon slowly nods his head. He didn’t foresee this turn of events. He looks at Bonbon as she gives him _the look_. It seems that she figured it out. What is he going to do now? Obviously he can’t turn down the dinner, but he also can’t just leave Bonbon hanging.

“It’s a shame that you won’t be joining Lyra and I for dinner.” Bonbon speaks up. “I guess that’s alright, seeing as you’ll need time to pack a few things for your stay.”

Luna feels her brow raise as she looks over at Anon. Anon chuckles nervously as he looks over to the kitchen. An idea comes to mind.

“Yeah. You see, I got a new trainee.”

Anon points at Butter Hooves who is currently prepping his station. Luna looks over at the pony setting up his workstation. The pony shakily sets a pot onto the stove to boil. He seems very nervous and could possibly drop something at the faintest of sudden noises.

“I gotta keep an eye on him.” Anon continues. “Seeing as I’m only going to be here for a few more days. I thought it would be cool to stay at the store for awhile until the job is done.”

Luna looks at Anon with a raised brow. She knows he’s lying. He knows that she knows he’s lying, but Luna accepts it. It’s just in Anon’s nature. He doesn’t want any problems.

Luna nods. “Understandable. I’ll let my sister know of your temporary arrangements. So we’ll see you at dinner?”

Anon lets out a sigh. “Yeah. I’ll be there.”

“Very well. I must return to my duties.”

“Later, Luna.”

She gives him a nod as she steps back into the darkness. The shadow that clung to the corner slowly dissipates.

“So, that’s why you wanted to stay here?” Bonbon asks.

“Maybe.”

“You’re going to have to face her eventually.”

“Eventually.” Anon repeats. He looks over to the workers. “I better check on how everything is holding up.”

Anon gets up and walks away before Bonbon can say another word. All she can do is let out a sigh as she goes back to her paperwork.

* * *

“What was I thinking!?” Celestia screams into her pillow. “How could I have forgotten that Twilight was going to be joining us for dinner?”

Celestia is laying face down on her bed. She was going to head to her throne room but decided to take a few moments for herself in private. She’s been in here ever since she left Twilight in the library. All she could think about is how much of a disaster this entire thing is going to turn out.

Celestia quickly sits up. “What if he doesn’t show up? Anon probably remembered that Twilight would be there. What if he thinks I’m doing this on purpose?”

She falls onto her bed again. She doesn’t like her thoughts. If Anon thinks she did this on purpose, then the chances are that he’ll probably not want to be around her anymore.

“It’s silly to think such things, Sister.”

Celestia sits up. “Luna?!”

Luna is standing at the base of her sister's bed.

“I highly doubt Anon would be so willing to let go of your friendship.” Luna scolds her sister slightly. “He’s grown past such things.”

Celestia leers at her sister as she casts a stronger spell on her mind.

“What have I told you about eavesdropping on my thoughts?”

Luna rolls her eyes. “ _Please._ I have known you long enough to hear your thoughts without the need for magic.”

“Be that as it may, this is still my room.” Celestia counters.

“That matters little. The fact of the matter is that Anon will be coming to dinner and Twilight will not.”

Celestia looks at her sister with a raised brow.

“Is that so?”

Luna nods. “I saw fit to rectify your mistake.”

“How did you do such a thing?”

“I simply told your student to spend a night with her family. It was rather easy.”

Of course, Luna is paraphrasing, but it pretty much happened along the same line. Celestia seems to accept what her sister is saying without question.

“Really?”

Another nod from Luna. “I speak the truth.”

“Well...” Celestia rises from her bed. “It seems I’ve been worrying myself over nothing.”

“It would seem.”

Celestia walks over to her dresser and picks up a coat brush as she starts to comb her coat.

“So what do you have planned for the day?” Celestia asks Luna.

“The nightguard need more training.” Luna says. “They’ve been a bit sloppy lately.”

“You’re too hard on them.”

“I train them to be prepared.”

“For what? War? That time has passed, Sister.”

Luna turns away from her sister to look out the balcony window.

“Were it so easy.”

“Hmm?” Celestia looks over at her sister.

“Nothing, just idle thoughts. I must be going.”

“I’ll be in the throne room if you need me.” Celestia tells her sister.

Luna gives her a nod as she takes a step back into the darkness. Celestia feels herself smirk as Luna disappears. Shadow teleportation, a specialty of her sister’s. One of the many things that they no longer teach in magic schools. Not very great at making an appearance, but then again, it wasn’t intended to be used to make appearances. Celestia feels her smile drop. It was made to allow easier stealth kills on the battlefield.

Celestia sets down her coat brush. There’s no need to linger on those thoughts. Anon’s going to be joining her for dinner and that brightens her mood considerably.


	4. The lies we tell

Anon takes a few deep breaths in and a few of them out. He just needs to calm his nerves and get this over with. Twilight isn’t going to be there at dinner. However, he needs to go to the castle a little early to get some clothes to wear for dinner and to pack a small bag for when he comes back to the store. It needs to be done, he can’t just stay in the clothes he’s wearing the entire time. All he needs to do is walk to his room and pack some things. Then he’ll walk out, back to the shop, get ready for the dinner and then walk back. In and out, no problem.

“Yeah, no problem.” He whispers to himself as he paces back and forth in front of the castle gates.

The two guards can only face forward as this creature walks back and forth in front of them. They know exactly who he is, so they’re just waiting until he’s ready to enter. They’re not really sure what he’s doing, but they don’t get paid to ask questions, they get paid to keep ponies out. Anon’s ready. He walks up to the gate as the two ponies use their magic to open it for him.

Anon decides to make this quick and painless. First he needs to walk through the front do-... Anon feels his world slow down as he notices Twilight walking out of the castle’s front door. She’s walking on three legs while she uses the other to hold a book. How could he be so unlucky? Then Anon notices something. Why is she not using her magic? Anon looks up to see that the ring is still on her horn. Wasn’t that supposed to be taken off a month ago?

Anon is holding his breath as Twilight continues to walk towards him. He keeps trying to question why she would still have that ring on. Was it Celestia? Luna? Twilight is really focused on her book. She’s learning a lot about body language. There’s also various smells that a creature gives off and many other interesting things to learn. She doesn’t even notice when she walks past Anon.

Anon thanks whatever god that may be watching over him as Twilight walks clear past him. Wait a second, what abo-

“Twilight, wait!”

Anon feels his body fill with dread as Spike walks out from the castle doors. Spike freezes as he notices Anon. Twilight doesn’t seem to notice as she keeps looking at her book.

“What’s up, Spike?” Twilight questions as she walks along.

Spike looks at Anon as he looks at him. Anon just holds up a finger to tell him to be silent. Anon slowly walks to a side door that leads to the gardens. It’ll be a bit of a detour, but he’s fine with that. Spike can only watch as Anon walks to the door, quietly opens it and then closes it behind him. Twilight looks over her withers at Spike as he just stands there spacing out.

“Spike, are you coming?” Twilight asks.

“...Yeah.”

Twilight just shakes her head at him as she returns to her book. Twilight then smells something on the wind. She lifts her head up slightly to get a better whiff.

“Is that..” She shakes her head. “That’s silly. Come along, Spike!”

Twilight walks off towards her parents. She’s sure that she smelled Anon, but maybe her muzzle is playing tricks on her? Spike decides not to say anything as he runs after Twilight. This entire thing is too crazy for him to deal with.

* * *

Anon quickly runs to a bush in the garden and spews his guts. His heart is racing and his body feels sick. It’s almost as if he suddenly came down with the flu. He saw her... He can’t believe how unlucky he is. He shouldn’t have come. He shouldn’t live here. If there’s even a small chance of bumping into that pony, then he doesn’t want to risk it. He wonders if Bonbon will let him move in?

No. No... These are just thoughts of fear. He needs to calm down and think. Twilight is gone. She won’t be coming back. He has all the time in the world to pack some stuff and go to dinner. No harm, no foul. His entire body feels as if he ran a marathon after that brief encounter. Seeing as Twilight isn’t coming back, maybe it wouldn’t hurt if he takes a quick rest? It’ll do good to settle his racing thoughts.

It’s been awhile since he’s taken some time to walk around the gardens. Perhaps clearing his head is exactly what he needs right now. After taking a few more breaths to steady his rapidly beating heart, does Anon start walking through the garden. This place is really beautiful. Flowers, trees, and animals aplenty. Just knowing that no one else is here definitely helps calm Anon’s nerves.

Well, if he actually was alone here. Anon can hear a soft laughter coming from deep within the gardens. Curious. It’s probably Blueblood. He usually likes to come out here the most. Anon hasn’t seen Blue in a long time and it would be nice to see him again. So Anon moves his way through the bushes and trees deeper into the gardens. What he begins to notice right away is that there are two voices instead of one.

Could it possibly be Celestia out here with Blueblood? It wouldn’t be uncommon for her to join him. Those are sound thoughts, so Anon keeps continuing forward. As he approaches he can hear Blueblood talking.

“And this one is named George. Anon named him after a monkey from his world.”

Anon can feel a smile at that thought. He can already see Blueblood facing a tree with a monkey on his withers as he faces someone. Anon keeps walking up towards them but stops when he hears the other pony talk.

“That’s interesting.” Fluttershy says with a large smile. “Did Anon name any of the other animals?”

Anon feels himself freeze in place as he tries to comprehend what’s happening. The first thought that comes to mind is. Why is Fluttershy still here? He doesn’t remember Luna mentioning Fluttershy during their training, then again, she never really talked about anything other than their training. So Anon is left to question why is she here now? Anon isn’t sure what he should do right now.

Should he leave and do what he set out to do or should he actually try and talk to her? He doesn’t hold anything against her, but, he still has an odd feeling of wariness when he thinks about her.

“He named a few of them, but I don’t remember them all.” Blueblood says with an ever-present smile.

“That’s nice to hear. So Anon likes animals?” Fluttershy asks.

Blueblood nods. “I think so. Maybe not as much as you, but he likes them.”

“What else can you tell me about Anon?”

Anon doesn’t know what to do. He still has these two sides of him debating what is wrong and right. Each side makes a pretty good argument. On one hand, he can walk away and ignore this situation. On another, he can just get it over with. Again, Fluttershy isn’t exactly a bad pony. It was just a bad situation that got out of hand fast. He did some stuff, she is the reason for that stuff.

Anon feels his mind going back to what Bonbon said. _Throwing caution to the wind._ While he definitely won’t be doing that with Twilight, he can probably at least try with this pony. Anon takes a deep breath in and decides to get this over with.

“Why don’t you ask me?” Anon speaks up.

Both Blueblood and Fluttershy jump in shock at the voice. They quickly look over and see Anon walking over towards them. Fluttershy feels her smile come back and the same goes for Blueblood.

“Anon!” Blueblood gets up from his seat and runs over to him. “What are you doing here?!”

Anon can feel a genuine smile on his face as he pats Blue on the head.

“Just stopping by to pick some things up. Did your aunt tell you that I’m coming to dinner?”

He shakes his head. “That’s great news!” He looks at Fluttershy. “Did you hear that? Anon’s coming to dinner!”

“I heard.” She looks at Anon, then back at Blueblood. “Maybe you should get ready?”

Blueblood looks shocked. “You’re right! I haven’t a minute to spare!”

Blueblood bolts towards the castle without another word being said. Anon follows Blueblood with his eyes until he’s out of sight. He can already feel his mind in overdrive. Fluttershy wants him alone. That much is obvious.

“Please, sit.” She says.

Anon looks back at Fluttershy as she points over to the spot where Blueblood was. Her voice is soothing in a way. No fluctuation to indicate any alternate emotion she may be feeling. She seems content. Anon doesn’t see a reason to leave, so he walks over and takes a seat in front of her.

“Hi.” Fluttershy says simply.

“Hey.”

The two of them grow silent. It’s rather awkward, but neither one knows what to say.

“You’ve been busy?” Fluttershy breaks the silence.

“Very. The candy store is rather popular.”

“I’ve heard. Are you having fun?”

Anon feels a brow raise. “Why do you ask, Fluttershy?”

She looks sad for a moment as she scoots a little closer to him.

“I just want us to start over. I’m sorry for what happened between us.”

“Things happened. Neither one of us was in the wrong.”

Fluttershy isn’t sure what words to use to say how she feels. For so long she’s been feeling guilty about everything, not just what she did to him personally, but about everything. It seems that Anon has been the subject of so many horrible things.

“For these passing months I’ve been talking to Pinkie and Blueblood. They speak so highly of you. It’s almost as if they’re talking about another creature entirely.” She rests a hoof onto his hand. “I want to know you like how they know you.” She looks sadly at her hoof that’s rested on his hand. “Maybe I lost that chance long ago.”

Anon wants to chew his arm off like a fox stuck in a trap, but he doesn’t want to react to his instincts. She’s pouring her heart out to him. She speaks as if she’s truly sorry, even though she has no reason to be sorry. It’s just a small testament to how much of a good pony she is. Anon feels his mind go back to a memory in particular.

* * *

“You’re really good at dancing!” Pinkie says with a giggle.

“I’m surprised you can dance on your hind hooves.” Anon tries to compliment Pinkie.

She giggles. “I’ve been told that I’m rather _flexible_.”

“Still,” Anon dips Pinkie as she lifts a hind hoof up to his waist and strikes a pose. “this probably isn’t normal for ponies, right?”

She nods. “Most ponies can’t stand on their hind hooves for long, but my time on the rock farm made my hooves strong.”

“Rock farm?”

Pinkie’s smile slips some. “It’s a long story.”

Anon brings Pinkie back up to his chest as they continue their waltz. Anon doesn’t know how it turned out like this, but Pinkie said she wanted to dance with the “birthday colt” and her big teary eyes were enough to get him to fold. Pinkie is also surprised how well Anon can dance.

“Where’d you learn how to dance?” She asks.

Anon shrugs. “I’m not sure.”

Pinkie doesn’t linger on that thought. She’s having a great time at Anon’s birthday party. She’s so happy that he invited her. Pinkie rests her head against his chest as she looks over the room. Only a few ponies were allowed here. The princesses and Blueblood. Pinkie can feel her heart hurt a little. She looks up at Anon.

“Why isn’t Fluttershy here?”

Anon looks away from Pinkie and at a wall.

“I didn’t find a reason to invite her.”

“Anon... I know you want to talk to her.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. I saw you at her cottage.”

Pinkie can feel Anon jerk slightly, but he keeps his pacing.

“You were there?”

“I was visiting to see how she was doing.”

“I see.”

“She isn’t a bad pony, Anon. She feels horrible about what she did.”

Anon doesn’t say anything as he lets out a sigh.

“I know.” He relents.

“Talk to her.”

“It’s not that easy.”

“It is.” Pinkie rests her head on his chest again. “It’s easier than you know. Please, just talk to her.”

“...I’ll think about it.”

Pinkie and Anon both stop at the same time. Pinkie looks up at him with a large smile as she drops back onto all fours.

“Maybe we can do this again? You really are a great dancer.”

Anon rubs the back of his neck. “Maybe.”

Pinkie accepts that answer with her usual smile.

“I’m going to check on Fluttershy and Twilight.”

Pinkie notices the flash of hate that crosses Anon’s face when he hears the word Twilight.

“See you later.” He responds in a dead tone.

“See you later.” Pinkie responds with a sigh as she turns to leave.

* * *

Anon clenches his teeth some at that memory. _Dammit Pinkie._

“Um... No hard feelings?” Anon says.

Fluttershy looks up at him with tears in her eyes.

“Do you really mean that?”

Anon hates how emotional ponies can get.

“Yeah, definitely. Like I said, you aren’t to blame.”

Fluttershy chuckles as she clears her face some.

“Sorry, I’m making this awkward for you.”

“I have a feeling that it would’ve been awkward regardless.”

Anon feels something start to grasp his pant leg. He looks down to see George climbing up his leg. Fluttershy can only giggle as the monkey climbs all the way up Anon’s body and sits on his shoulder.

“Blueblood told me that you like animals.”

Anon nods. “Yeah, they’re alright. I prefer domesticated animals more. Less chance of my face being ripped off.”

“Oh, I’m sure that wouldn’t happen.” Fluttershy thinks for a second. “Well, at least with none of the animals in the garden.”

“I guess you’re right. Celestia wouldn’t let Blue walk around if these animals were bloodthirsty.”

“What kind of animals do you like?”

“Dogs. Loyalty is what I like the most about them. Loyal to a fault, some would say.”

“Have you ever thought about owning a dog?” Fluttershy asks.

“Nah. As much as I would like to have a personal companion of my own, I don’t think I’d give it the time it needs. I’ve been busy and the princesses pretty much take up most of my time.” Anon rubs his chin and whispers in thought. “I wonder if I can teach Celestia how to fetch?”

“What was that?” Fluttershy asks.

Anon shakes his head. “Hmm? Nothing. Just idle thoughts. Anyways. Why are you still here, Fluttershy? Shouldn’t you have left for Ponyville a month ago?”

Fluttershy gets red in the face. “Yeah. I kinda wanted to see you. You know, to get everything out in the open.”

That’s weird, really weird... Then again, ponies are weird.

“...Interesting. So you’re going to head back now?”

Fluttershy nods. “I think I’ll start packing tomorrow. I’m sure the animals are eager to see me.”

Anon looks up to the sky and notices the position of the sun. It’s starting to get late and he wants to make sure he has a bag packed for his stay at Bonbon’s.

“I gotta head back and pack some things, Fluttershy. You’ll be going to dinner, right?”

She nods. “I will.”

“I guess I’ll see you there.” Fluttershy nods as Anon stands there awkwardly for a few seconds. “So... Yeah, I’m just going to walk away now.”

Anon turns around and starts walking towards the castle.

“See you later.” Fluttershy calls out.

Anon just gives a small wave, never looking back. Fluttershy looks off into the garden. She feels content with herself now. Maybe, just maybe one day Anon can be her friend as well.

* * *

Luna walks into her captain’s quarters with a stone cold look on her face. Before her banishment, her knights were well known for covert ops. Being able to hide in plain sight and protect from the darkness. The fact that Anon was harmed disturbs her. Her knights can't be everywhere at once, but she intends to have a small group watch over Anon from now on. It’s something she’s been meaning to do for awhile, but ever since she’s taken time on the throne from her sister, things are busy for her. Not that she’s complaining, she enjoys helping her subjects as much as her sister. Still, Anon is always on her mind, she doesn’t want him to become a victim ever again.

“Captain Midnight.” Luna calls her captain's name.

A female thestral walks from her office and bows before her princess.

“You called?”

“Rise.” Luna commands. “I want training for your knights to be doubled. I have a sour feeling in my stomach that something is just over the horizon.”

“As you wish.”

“I would also like a small team dispatched to protect something.”

“Ask and it will see no harm.”

“I wish for you to protect Anonymous.”

The pony looks at her princess. “The hooman?”

Luna nods. “Ensure that you are not seen. Anon may not look it, but his senses are far sharper than you know. I would dare say that they’re on par with my own.”

“We will blend with the shadows.”

Luna walks up closer to her captain. “He means a lot to me. Keep him safe.”

Another bow from Midnight Blossom.

“I understand.”

Luna feels that everything is now in motion. She doesn’t know why, but she can’t stop this weird feeling that’s inside of her. It’s like her insides are filled with hot air. Similar to the jitters she would get before a battle, but, somewhat different as well. All she knows is that it happens whenever she thinks of her friend. So she worries that he may be in danger.

“I must prepare for dinner.” Luna walks away.

Midnight Blossom rises from her bow as her princess leaves. A small smirk on her lips appearing. It seems that things are getting interesting. She can practically count the millennia that she’s been waiting for any form of action to take place. If her princess feels that something is on the horizon, then she knows to take her words seriously. Not only that, but she’s also been given an assignment.

“Ma'am, would you like us to watch over this hooman?” One of her knights asks after hearing the conversation.

Blossom shakes her head with her smirk still present. No, she’s very much been interested in this hooman ever since one of her knights reported him carrying her princess to her chambers.

“I think it’s time I’ve got my hooves dirty.” She looks over to her knight. “You’re in charge. I want you and the rest of the cadets to start training. Leave this hooman to me.”

The pony salutes. “Understood!”

Blossom walks over to a nearby window and leaps out. She can’t wait to see this human. To think that he was able to befriend not one, but both sisters. He must definitely be a sight to behold.


	5. Living in the past, stuck in the future

Anon is in his room sitting on the edge of his bed. Why does this keep happening? His thoughts are out of control and he needs to calm them before he starts packing, but that talk with Fluttershy is still fresh in his mind. It keeps playing over in his head like a broken record. Every little word he said and every response she made. He keeps analyzing it, trying to find flaws, dishonesty. He can never trust those ponies again, ever. He believes that if you break someone’s trust, you might as well say goodbye to it because you’ll never see it again.

Still, he can’t deny that Fluttershy at the very least was being honest when they were talking. Anon doesn’t think he’ll ever confide in Fluttershy, so he’ll keep to himself when she’s around. As timid and shy as she is, he has a strong feeling that she’s more trouble than she’s worth. However, he won’t actively avoid her, so at least that’s progress. He’s sure Pinkie will be thrilled to hear about this during their party.

A sigh leaves him, now his mind is thinking of the other elements of harmony. His teeth clench together at those thoughts, memories of the past coming back to the front of his mind. Forgiveness isn’t something they deserve. What they did to him, how could he ever forgive the ponies that intentionally hurt him? At least with Pinkie and Fluttershy it was a misunderstanding for the most part.

Applejack, he still remembers what Pinkie told him. How she only hurt him because of her situation, but Anon isn’t a punching bag. She only feels sorry for having hurt him and no amount of apologies will ever make him forgive her. The best she’ll get from him is a bit of neutrality. What Luna did to her was more than enough to make him feel even, but he will not forgive her and he will not be friends with her. They’re even and he doesn’t want her around, it’s that simple.

Now his mind goes to thinking about Rainbow Dash. A small grin grows over his face. She got what she deserved and then some. He doesn’t doubt that eventually that mare will try to do something drastic. Whether it’s getting revenge or trying to apologize, he knows it’s only a matter of time. For some reason, knowing it will happen takes away the feeling of fear. In fact, it should be Rainbow Dash that should be afraid. Just like the lightning she used to scare him, Celestia will strike her down just as quickly.

Now, Rarity. He honestly doesn’t even want to waste a single thought on her, but it’s not that simple, he can’t stop himself from reflecting on it... To think that she only did what she did to force him to take her clothes. Rather than try and have him do remedial chores to make him feel like she owed him something, she instead put his life in danger. Yeah, wasting thought on her is pointless. Eventually, she’ll start making dresses again, with or without Fancy Pants.

Anon feels a shiver at the last pony from his past. Twilight. He can feel a sickness start to grow just at the thought of that mare. He has a feeling that the ring on her horn wasn’t just a coincidence when he saw her earlier today. He has a strong feeling that she probably asked to keep it on. Perhaps in an attempt to relay her sorrow and regret for her actions. To deprive herself of something that makes her what she is.

Anon knows better, he knows exactly why she’s doing it. It’s just a way for her to feel good about herself. To know that she’s causing pain to herself, therefore, forgiveness isn’t needed. She’s just tricking herself into thinking that he’ll feel obligated to forgive her because of the length she’s willing to go. Fat chance of that happening.

A sigh leaves Anon. This is just wasting his time. He shakes his head to get his thoughts back on the task at hand. He rises from his bed and walks over to his dresser. He needs to pack a small bag for his stay with Bonbon and Lyra. Nothing too fancy, just the same old clothes he likes to wear. As Anon starts to pack, he can feel the hairs on his neck slowly rise. He doesn’t pause in his task and keeps packing as his mind starts to race.

His hunter-gatherer skills are tingling. Something’s watching him right now. He assumed it was Luna, but the smell of nightshade isn’t in the air. So something is here, but he doesn’t know who or what it is. He never doubts his gut feeling. They are rather sharp when it comes to knowing when things are around. Whatever it is, it hasn’t attacked, so he can assume there’s more to this than he knows. He keeps packing a bag calmly. Don’t want to let whatever's watching knowing that he knows it’s there.

Blossom watches this hooman with a smirk on her face. Luna was right, Anon instantly picked up on her presence as soon as she entered his room. He’s even doing a fine job at concealing his knowledge of this fact as well. She wasn’t expecting him to be this perceptive. It’s almost as if he’s been trained to do this. Blossom notices his muscles are slightly tense and his breaths are slow and controlled. He’s waiting for her to make the first move.

_He already knows you’re here. There’s no reason to remain hidden._

Blossom licks her two fangs in excitement as she drops from the ceiling, spreads her wings and softly lands a few hooves away from Anon. She can practically hear the beating of his heart as it races from this action. His body tensing even more as her hooves make contact with the floor.

“I knew I wasn’t alone.” Anon speaks as he keeps packing. “Who might you be?”

“Midnight Blossom, Luna’s captain of the lunar knights.”

Anon’s heartbeat starts to steady as those words register in his mind. So she’s part of Luna’s guard? Anon turns around to properly face this pony but comes face to face with two large golden orbs directly in front of him. He flinches back some since he didn’t hear her move from her spot a few moments ago. A feminine giggle leaves the pony as she moves a bit away from him. Anon now gets a better view of this creature as she hovers in the air. It’s one of those bat ponies he saw a few months ago standing outside of Luna’s room.

There’s not much else he can say to describe this pony. She has the standard gray coat, bat wings and fangs. Other than her golden eyes that have cat-like pupils and her cutie mark, which kinda looks like flowers. There isn’t really much to discern her from the other guards. Then again, Anon doesn’t remember there being a female soldier in the guard and she definitely looks female.

“Why are you here?” Anon asks.

“Curiosity.”

“I have a feeling that isn’t the whole truth.”

Blossom can already sense his hesitation and skepticism. She knows that lying to this creature will only make her job harder. So perhaps the best approach is to remain truthful and gain his trust? Because if he can’t trust her, then keeping him safe will be near impossible.

“You’re right. Luna tasked me to ensure that your safety is my top priority. I’ll be watching over you when neither of the princesses are around to guarantee that you come to no harm.”

Anon stands there looking at this pony closely. It doesn’t seem like she’s lying to him. He then thinks over what she said. He doesn’t find anything wrong with that idea. It’s nice to know that he’ll have someone there to watch his back. Not only that, but he knows that at some point in time Rainbow Dash will strike and he’s not sure if Celestia or Luna will be there when it happens. So having a little backup would be nice.

He nods. “I find that acceptable.”

Blossom’s smirk grows. “Glad to know we’re on the same page.” She lands on the floor. “Know that I will always be watching, but if you need me, you only need to call my name.”

“Blossom, if I remember correctly?” She nods. “Nice to meet you. I’m Anon if I didn’t mention that beforehand.”

Blossom giggles. “Nice to meet you as well, Anon.” Her ears perk up and swivel towards his door. “Somepony is coming. I was never here.”

Blossom leaps up and hides away in a dark corner of the room, completely blending into the darkness. Anon must admit, for not being a unicorn, she can hide rather well. Anon is brought from thought as he hears a knock on his door. He walks over to it and opens it without hesitation. Celestia is the pony that’s standing in front of him, practically glowing.

“Anon, I heard you were in the castle. This is a pleasant surprise.”

Anon feels his nervousness leave him.

“Yeah, I came back to pack a small bag and get ready for tonight.”

She nods. “Luna just told me about that. I hope everything goes well for your store. I know that training ponies can be rather difficult. I could spend years telling you how hard it was to train my staff when I first became a princess.”

Anon nods. “I think they’ll get it by the time the party happens. No worries.”

“So what are you doing now?” Celestia asks.

Anon looks inside his room towards his bag. He finished packing a few moments after Blossom showed herself.

“Not much, just finished packing, so I’ll probably head back to drop my bag of-”

In a flash, his bag is gone. Celestia is standing there looking at him with her smile never wavering.

“So what are you up to _now_?”

Anon chuckles as he rubs the back of his neck. “I guess not much. Wanna do something?”

Celestia seems to steadily glow brighter as she nods in excitement.

“I would like you to join me for my afternoon stroll.”

Anon nods. “I think I can manage that.”

Celestia slowly walks down the hall, as Anon gets ready to close the door to his room, he briefly sticks his head inside of his room to address the only pony inside.

“See you later.” He calls out just before he closes the door.

* * *

Anon and Celestia are walking down the streets of Canterlot together. There’s not much that needs to be said about this moment. Well, except Celestia is pressed firmly against Anon as they walk side by side. Anon feels rather uncomfortable, but he deals with it, seeing as it’s been awhile since he’s seen Celestia and she’s probably feeling affectionate. Which seems to be a thing that ponies are about in this place, always nuzzling and touching with close friends.

“It’s so nice that we’re together again.” Celestia says breathlessly as she leans her head against Anon’s shoulder.

“You make it seem like we’ve been apart for years.” He jokes.

“I wouldn’t disagree with that notion.”

“Well, just a few more days and I’ll be free to do whatever.”

Celestia lightly nuzzles into Anons shoulder some.

“I can’t wait.”

Anon feels his comfort level steadying out. He will admit that ponies touching him still makes him feel weird, but he’s willing to bare with it for Celestia’s sake. Anon briefly looks around and can see how all the ponies are looking at him and Celestia with different levels of shock. He can only assume that’s because they aren't used to seeing their princess enjoying herself.

“Where we headed?” Anon asks.

Celestia smiles. “I would like to head to the park if you don’t mind.”

Anon shrugs. “I’m alright with it.”

Celestia lets out another sigh of content. For some reason, her heart is starting to beat a bit faster than usual. There’s no reason for her mind to dwell, she’s just happy to be with Anon right now.

* * *

The two of them finally make it to the park. There aren’t many ponies here, other than a few foals that are playing off in a field. Both Anon and Celestia walk over to a bench. Anon takes his seat at one end and Celestia takes her seat at the other. The bench is made for regular ponies, so even while sitting, Celestia has to take up some room on Anon’s side. So she does the only thing that makes sense, she rests her head on his lap so they both can be comfortable.

Anon now feels that weird feeling inside of him as Celestia rests her head onto his lap. The feeling of being touched and close to her makes his skin crawl. For so many years, he’s avoided other creatures, but now Celestia is one of only a few ponies that are allowed to get this close to him. He accepts his fate as he notices the smile that’s on her face as she lays there, eyes closed and perfectly fine with being in public with him.

Anon can remember a time when Celestia would always wear her princess mask whenever she went out into the public eye. He has to admit that it kinda makes him feel happy that she’s starting to let loose a bit. She deserves to enjoy the little things in life. His mind wanders towards Luna. A smile starting to grow on his face. It’s odd for him to know that those two are his friends, true friends. Luna’s done so much to keep him entertained and sharing those memories has made him respect her all the more.

He does still wonders about all of the things she’s kept from him. Like Nightmare moon and the many battles she was in. He still gets a feeling deep down inside of him that she’s holding back because she’s afraid of what he’ll think of her. Anon chuckles a bit to himself. Perhaps the reason he has that feeling inside of him is because Luna shared her memories with him in the first place? Are these feeling his own or are they the ones that Luna feels? Perhaps he will talk to Luna about it in their dreams tonight.

“What’s so funny?” Celestia asks.

Anon looks down to see Celestia is still in her same position, the only difference is that one of her eyes is open as she looks at him.

“Random thoughts.”

“Anything I should worry about?” She jokes.

He shakes his head. “Nope, just some stuff I need to talk to Luna about.”

Celestia closes her eyes again.

“Hmm? So nothing I should know about?”

“Nothing too big. Just some dream stuff.”

“Very well.”

The both of them fall into silence again. Anon decides to try and enjoy this moment. So he rests his hand on Celestia’s neck and starts to gently stroke her. His mind still wanders as he does this. He thinks about all of the ponies that care for him. Pinkie, Bonbon and even Lyra. He feels slightly angry at how blind he was back then. He also can’t blame himself either, things were complicated.

Still, he wonders how different things would’ve been if he actually did accept Pinkie as a friend. His mind suddenly kicks into overdrive. Would he have met Celestia? Would they have become friends? Would he have ever let any of the other ponies close to him? He hates questions like this because he can never answer them. They are pointless, but they can haunt him just like anything else. Because the questions that are asked now, were actions that were made then.

So he wonders what actions he will be questioning in the future? Will he regret the things he will do? Will he regret the things he has done? All pointless, but it still bothers him nonetheless. He was never an _in the moment_ kinda person. He lets out a sigh as he looks down at Celestia, her breaths have become shallow, it seems she’s asleep. Well, perhaps he has slowly become an _in the moment_ type of person, with the help of his friends.

Despite it making him feel uncomfortable. Anon leans back some, closes his eyes and tries his hardest to live in the moment. It’s worth a try at the very least.

* * *

Luna looks herself over in a body length mirror she has in her room. She has to admit that she cleans up well. A small chuckle leaves her, it seems Anon’s personality has bled into her thoughts, not that she minds, if anything it helps her feel less alone. Her thoughts calm a bit as she notices a presence in her room.

“Report.” Luna speaks with authority.

Blossom walks out of the shadows and gives a small bow.

“I’ve come to inform you that I’ve met with Anonymous.”

Luna raises a brow at her captain as she looks at her from the mirror.

“Is that so? Entertain me, Captain. What do you think of him?”

“He is very sharp indeed. He knew I was there only moments after my arrival.”

“How did you approach the situation?”

“I told him the truth. I knew just by looking at him that lying would’ve only hurt me in the long run.”

Luna nods. “Understandable. So he knows of what your job is?”

Blossom nods. “He seems fine with it.”

“Where is he now?”

“Your sister has taken him out for a walk. I felt that he would be taken care of better in her hooves than my own. Since I have the time, I felt it necessary to inform you of the situation.”

Luna looks herself over again in the mirror. Perhaps an outside opinion would help.

“How do I look, Captain?”

“As beautiful as the night sky.” Blossom replies.

“Do you think the mane is too much?”

Luna looks up at her slightly styled mane. It’s a bit different than her default ethereal look. She decided that for tonight she would use her true mane for this dinner. Something she and her sister rarely do these days. She must say that she missed the look of her natural color.

“It has been many moons since I’ve been fortunate enough to see your natural mane.” Blossom gives another bow.

“You do not need to act so formally, Blossom. We are both alone in my chambers.”

Blossom rises from her bow and looks over her princess.

“Very well. May I ask what the occasion is?”

Luna feels a little heat on her cheeks. It’s that odd feeling again.

“Anon is going to join my sister and I for dinner tonight. It’s been some time since we’ve shared a meal together.”

“It lifts my spirits hearing the joy in your voice. Anonymous must mean a great deal to you.” Blossom states.

Luna feels her thoughts going to Anon. Her mind briefly flashing anger as his memories of his torture springs to mind. Then it calms as his memories of her and her sister comes flooding in. He’s never said it, but his memories, his feelings, everything is telling her exactly what he doesn’t want to say aloud. How much he trusts and even respects them. How much he cares for them. A gentle smile rests on her face.

“He does.” Luna speaks in a whisper. She then looks up at herself in the mirror. “Should I wear a dress?”

“Perhaps that would be a bit too much.” Blossom comes in.

Luna nods. “Agreed. You are dismissed, Captain. Be ready for Anon’s return.”

Blossom bows. “Pleasant night to you.”

Luna is left alone as Blossom leaves. Yes, she’s definitely ready for tonight.


	6. What we fear most

Anon is starting to think that living in the moment isn’t his thing. He tried to relax, but it’s harder than it looks. His mind never came with a switch that allows him to clears his thoughts. He’s always thinking at all times. So living in the moment is nearly impossible for him, seeing as he is living in the past, present and future at all times. Thinking about what’s happened, what is happening and what may happen. A constant force that is unstoppable.

It’s tiring. Anon opens his eyes and looks at the sky as if there are answers waiting for him just overhead. It’s nothing more than the same sky that he’s gazed upon many times before, the only difference is that the sun is slowly starting to descend towards the horizon. He moves his attention down to Celestia, she’s still asleep, perfectly content with resting on his lap for the entire day if he allowed it.

As he watches her resting peacefully, his mind wanders onto questions that mean nothing in the grand scheme. Things like how the sun moves while she rests. Is it some kind of passive magic or perhaps she moves the sun into orbit around their planet and makes adjustments every so often? So many questions. Yet just like most of his thoughts, they have no reason behind them. Just one of many thoughts that race through his mind on a daily basis.

A sigh leaves him. There it is again, he tries to relax and his mind never rests. Sometimes he wonders what it’s like not to think, which in turn is a thought. It seems he’ll never win.

“Something on your mind?”

Anon didn’t notice that he was staring intensely at Celestia the entire time, at some point she woke up and was looking right back at him. He quickly averts his eyes.

“Just thinking about some stuff about your world.”

“Hmm? May I ask what of?”

There’s no reason for Anon to keep his thoughts to himself. At least talking about them will help ease some of his questions, if only for a moment.

“The sun, how does it moves when you’re asleep? I wasn’t sure if it was some kind of passive magic or that every morning and night you have to place it into the proper orbit.”

Celestia smiles at Anon’s interest in her work. It’s very rare for ponies to ask her how she controls the sun. The last pony to ask her such things was Twilight.

“Passive magic. I’ve been doing it for so long that I don’t even notice it anymore.”

Well, that answers one question, but there’s thousands more to replace it.

“How big is your sun?”

“About the same size as the moon.”

Anon’s mind keeps picking up the pace as it starts to question more about this place.

“How large is the moon?”

“I’m not sure how you measure things in your world, but it’s about a quarter the size of our planet.”

Anon thinks it over a bit. He’s seen a map of their world. It’s not that big, he guessed it’s slightly smaller than earth. Anon closes his eye in thought as he thinks everything over in his head. This planet is odd.

“Why are you asking?” Celestia finds her own curiosity at his questions.

“My mind wanders a lot.”

Celestia thinks back to a pony that she hasn’t thought about in a long time. In so many ways, they have a lot in common.

“Starswirl the Bearded was exactly the same.” Celestia finds her mind drifting towards a few memories of a time long since passed. “He always questioned everything around him. His curiosity led to discovering many great things in our world. Even when his accomplishments were considered revolutionary, he was never satisfied with what he made. He never stopped, always searching for more, to become more than he was.”

Celestia sits up so she can properly face Anon.

“You remind me of him. He too could never enjoy his life for more than a fraction of a second. Relaxing and having free time wasn’t a concept he understood. If anything, it’s something that caused him fear. Because when he had nothing to think about, he was forced to think about himself.”

Anon gulps hard at listening to Celestia reminisce about this pony. It’s disturbing how much he relates to him. He too can’t stand being left without something to do, because he hates having to think about himself. All the things that he’s done wrong. All the things he could’ve done better.

“What happened to him?”

“He grew old, just like everypony else.”

“Did he ever learn how to enjoy the moment?”

Celestia gives a sad smile as she shakes her head.

“He wouldn’t have been the pony I knew if he had.”

Anon can feel his mind racing even faster as he absorbs all this information. A single thought spawns from this talk. Now that he’s thinking about it, he can’t stop himself from asking. The memories he shared with Luna are still fuzzy for the most part, so even he isn’t sure about what he’s about to ask.

“Celestia, can you die?”

That throws Celestia off her game, not because of the question, but because of everything they’ve been talking about. Starswirl asked her the very same question once. This makes only two creature on this planet that have ever thought to question her mortality. Celestia eventually calms herself enough to answer.

“In a way, yes.” She answers.

He needs to know more. “In what way?”

Celestia takes a second to think how to phrase it. She decides to cast a privacy bubble for them so that no other could hear.

“I’m ageless, but not immortal.” Celestia takes a deep breath. “I am strong, I can rapidly heal and my magic is beyond any unicorns.” She then looks at Anon. “But I’m not immortal. I can die, it’s very hard to accomplish, but I can die.”

“What happens to the sun when you die?”

It’s starting to become surreal for Celestia. This exact moment is almost a one to one copy of her long chat with Starswirl.

“If my sister is not alive to move it for me and the ponies of this world cannot work together to move the sun and moon on their own, then this world will die with us.”

“They have the power to do that?”

Celestia nods. “A backup plan. That’s why I’ve been trying to teach them how to live in harmony, because when that day comes, when I cannot move the sun and my sister the moon, they’ll need to come together to make it work.”

“That’s pretty intense.” Anon admits.

“I do not plan on dying anytime soon.” Celestia jokes.

Anon takes comfort in that for some reason. Knowing that Celestia will always be there for him.

“It’s kinda weird to think that you’ll look exactly the same when...” Anon feels his voice slowly die out, a sobering thought coming to mind. Celestia can feel conflicting emotions inside of him, but he looks over at her with a small smile. “We should get back to the castle.”

Anon gets up and starts to walk away. Celestia is frozen in place, she can’t fight this troubled feeling that has left a pit in her stomach. Something about Anon’s words makes her feel sick deep down inside, but she’s too concerned over him to give it much thought. Celestia follows after Anon before he’s too far ahead of her.

* * *

Pinkie is lying on her back in bed with a large smile on her face as she hugs one of her pillows. It’s been awhile since she last visited Anon and he went ahead and invited her to a party! Her! Pinkie! The pony that throws parties for others! She rolls over onto her side, still holding the pillow. She comes face to face with Gummy. Who’s sitting atop another pillow beside her.

“Can you believe it, Gummy? Anon invited me to a party! It’s been awhile since we’ve seen each other. I swear it’s been fivever!”

Gummy just looks at her with that blank expression of his, licking one of his eyes with his tongue.

“Fivever is longer than forever, Gummy. I’m just happy I get to see Anon again.”

She sits up in her bed and looks around the room. The entire place is just the way Anon left it.

“I hope Anon’s alright with me staying at his place. I just couldn’t take the thought of all his hard work going to waste. Having my own place is different, but the good kind of different. Right, Gummy?”

Pinkie looks over to where Gummy was at but notices that he’s gone.

“Where’d you go?!”

Pinkie hops out of bed and tears the covers off. Gummy isn’t anywhere in sight. She hears something coming from the kitchen. She runs down the stairs and quickly enters. The sound is coming from one of the cabinets. Pinkie pulls over one of the chairs and quickly looks inside. She finds Gummy sitting in Anon’s tea set.

“Gummy, what have I told you about getting into the cabinets?”

Pinkie uses her spit curl to grab Gummy and set him onto the counter. She has to admit that adjusting to Anon’s house was a bit hard, seeing as everything is taller than normal. Still, Pinkie gets around well enough. It’s not all bad, sleeping in his huge bed is great!

“How about I make you something special? A bit of a celebration for the upcoming party.”

Gummy doesn’t say anything in response. Were you expecting as much? Pinkie whistles a happy tune as she heads over to the fridge. Maybe she’ll even make a cake for Anon? Yeah, she thinks that’ll definitely work. Pinkie feels her ears swivel towards the kitchen door as someone approaches.

“Is everything alright in here?” A monotoned voice asks.

Pinkie looks over her withers and smiles brightly.

“Everything is fine, Maud.” She then takes in a large gasp as an idea comes to her. “Maud, you should totally meet my friend Anon! I’m sure you two will hit it off.”

“I guess.”

“Don’t worry. We have time to prepare. The party isn’t for a few days.”

“Ok.”

Maud walks out of the kitchen. Pinkie can feel her heart racing. She can’t wait until Anon can meet her sister. She knows that they’ll get along.

* * *

Anon looks out of the corner of his eye to see Celestia walking beside him. He can hear her thoughts, how she worries about him, how she wants to send him to the moon... Well, the last thing is just his paranoia starting to act up. Still, why did he have to ask her those things? Now he can’t stop thinking about his own mortality. He knows it’s going to happen one day, it happens to everyone.

Eventually, he’ll die and there is nothing he can do about that. That does little to comfort him as his thoughts become consumed by the subject, he can’t stop thinking about it. He’s afraid. The unknowns about death, the not knowing is what scares him most. Anyone who says they’re not afraid of death is either delusional or ignorant. Yet, what he finds odd is a different line of thought that disturbs him.

What about Celestia and Luna? If he dies, they’ll be alone again. His heart aches at that thought. Death is still scary, but leaving those two alone seems worse. How will it affect them? How will they cope? He can only hope that they’ll forget about him, but he knows them well enough to say that isn’t going to happen. Will Luna become a recluse again? Will Celestia push everyone away?

Anon bites the inside of his cheek, drawing a bit of blood. He needs to stop this. Celestia is probably noticing the constant fluctuation in his emotions. He suppresses his emotions again, going blank. He hopes that’ll be enough to keep Celestia from worrying. This topic is a waste of thought. It’ll happen at some point in time and he can only hope those two are strong enough to handle it. He chuckles a bit on the inside... Of course, they’re strong enough. He isn’t that important to them. They probably lost more things in their life that were more important than him. Yet there’s that small voice that knows his passing will hurt them deeply.

“Anon?”

Anon looks over at Celestia.

“Hmm?”

“Are you feeling alright?”

Anon shrugs. “About as I always feel. What’s the matter?”

Celestia can still feel that pit in her stomach.

“I just get the feeling that something’s wrong.” She says with a voice filled with concern.

Anon waves it off, trying to play the part. “Nothing’s wrong. Just thinking about stuff. No worries.”

Celestia just keeps an eye on him as he goes back to facing the road. She can see that he’s chewing the inside of his cheek. He does that a lot when he’s heavy in thought. She won’t pry on his thoughts. She knows that eventually he’ll let her know what’s on his mind, she just has to be patient.

* * *

Luna is sitting in wait for Anon and her sister to return to have their meal for the evening. She checks her mane over in a small mirror she summoned with her magic so she could make sure that everything is in perfect order. She gives a small wink to her own reflection, Blossom was right, she is as beautiful as her night sky. She giggles a little to herself as she magics her mirror away.

Just in time too as Anon and Celestia walk into the dining room together. When Luna looks over her shoulder, she instantly takes notice of Anon. For some reason, she feels as if something isn’t right. His outward appearance is as blank as the day she met him. Her eyes drift over to her sister, that look of questioning worry on her face. It seems that something happened.

Anon finds his gaze drift over to Luna. His mind going quiet as his eyes lay on her. It seems that she’s styled her mane. He’s thankful that his thoughts are settling. So maybe he can act a bit more normal? He doesn’t hesitate as he walks over and takes a seat next to Luna.

“I like your mane, Luna. What’s the occasion?”

Celestia also noticed her sister's mane. It’s rare for Luna to ever show her natural mane, let alone style it. Her worry over Anon, now replaced with her sister's current appearance. She also walks over to the table and sits beside Anon. She can hear her sister answer Anon’s question.

“Having your company isn’t occasion enough?”

“Flattering thought, but isn’t it weird for you to be in public like that?” Anon asks.

“We aren’t in public. I’m sure it’s fine.”

Anon shrugs. “I guess you’re right. So how you’ve been?”

“Busy. I’ve been told that you met my captain?”

“Yeah, she stopped by earlier today. She seems nice.”

“I would hope so, she’s been my captain since before my imprisonment.”

Anon feels his mind blank. “...Wait, she’s over a thousand years old?”

Luna nods. “Thestrals have a long lifespan. Perhaps not ageless like my sister and I, but they do live for a long time.”

“Weird.”

Luna noticed that his mood shifted as soon as she started to talk about thestrals. She has the feeling that something is weighing heavy on Anon’s mind, but she thinks that perhaps speaking in their dreams would be the best course of action. She knows that Anon tends to be far more open in her realm than the waking world. Not only that, but she wants to enjoy this moment. Luna turns her attention to her sister.

“Sister, you’ve been quiet. Is something on your mind?”

Celestia snaps back to reality. She was mostly thinking about Anon and even her sister. How the two of them speak so freely with one another.

“Not much, Luna. I’m just surprised to see your natural mane. I must say that you look good.”

Luna smiles. “Thank you, Tia. Perhaps we can dress our manes together next time?”

Celestia shakes her head. “You know I was never good at styling my mane.”

Luna rolls her eyes. “One must learn to style their mane, Sister. It’s been far too long and I think that perhaps it’s time that you learn.”

Celestia ignores her. “How about we call the waiter?”

“I’ve already ordered for the three of us. They should be here momentarily.”

Just as Luna finished saying that, a few waiters come in with trays on a few carts. They get to work quickly and set everything in front of everyone. Anon starts to smile at the smell of meat, not just any meat, but his favorite, ham. Luna’s smile reflects Anon’s. She uses her magic to reveal everyone meals. Rose salad for her sister, a lilly sandwich for herself and a thick cut of ham for Anon.

“Well done, Luna.” Anon compliments.

“That’s not all.” Luna magics their drinks into existence.

Anon feels his brow raise as a clear liquid is set in front of him. Anon picks it up and takes a whiff. He quickly jerks back from the smell. He looks at Luna is disbelief.

“Is this Moonshine?”

Luna giggles. “I will admit that I did a bit of research and found out how to make this drink from your world.”

“Research?”

“The memories we shared. It wasn’t very hard to find and I must admit that I fell in love with the name.”

“What is Moonshine?” Celestia asks.

“This is considered the strongest alcohol a person can drink.” Anon takes another whiff. There’s something different.

“It’s far more stable than your people's drink.” Luna could see Anon’s questioning gaze. “It’s not as toxic as what you know, but still strong enough to make you regret drinking it.”

Anon chuckles at that. “Well, I guess I can give it a try. Seeing as you worked on making it.”

“Are you sure this is wise?” Celestia asks.

“Worry not, Sister. Anon will not partake alone!” Luna summons two more drinks for her and her sister. “I’ve added a bit of salt to our drinks.”

Celestia blushes some. “Sister, you know what salt does to me.”

“Live a little, Tia. It’s a celebration between friends.”

_Perhaps a little bit couldn’t hurt?_

“Very well.” Celestia relents.

Anon already feels his mood improving. He raises his glass into the air.

“Cheers!”

The sisters do the same with their glasses.

“Let us enjoy this night!” Luna says.

They strike their glasses together and take their first drink of the night.

* * *

Anon can already feel his headache as he regains consciousness. His vision is blurry and even the smallest amount of light makes him want to clamp them shut. He can’t even remember what happened yesterday. It’s all so fuzzy. He doesn’t think anything bad happened or that his drinking was due to something related to his past. Still, he drank enough to get a hangover and lose his memories.

It’s murky, but he does remember dinner with the sisters. Then Luna gave him something. He winces in pain, thinking is too much for him right now. What he finds odd is that his bed doesn’t feel as comfortable as he last remembered it. Not only that, but there’s this strong minty scent in the air. Usually in situations like this he smells the morning dew and nightshade, which correspond to each sister. Minty, though? He only knows of one pony that smells like that.

He feels something cuddle up next to him. An odd squee noise leaving whatever is spooning him. Anon opens his eyes slightly and notices seafoam green fur. Yup. That’s definitely Lyra. He closes his eyes again and runs a hand over his body. Still clothed, so that’s a good sign. He’s still too tired to care, so he decides to just let things play out. Anon knows that it’ll make sense when he doesn’t feel like his head is about to split open.

* * *

Celestia has a small smile on her lips as she wakes up to another morning in bed with Anon. It’s been too long since they’ve shared a bed with each other. She pulls him close and nuzzles into his neck. Odd, when did Anon get so much fur? Also, when did he start smelling like Luna?

“You’re rather affectionate this morning, Anon.” Luna mumbled.

Celestia opens her eyes and sees blue fur. A sigh leaves her.

“It is I, Sister.” Celestia says.

Luna is woken from her half sleep as she rolls over and comes face to face with her sister.

“Where’s Anon?” She asks.

“I’m unsure, Luna.”

Luna’s still tired and lays back down.

“I’m sure my captain is with him.”

“Is that so?” Celestia uses her magic and indeed does sense Anon and Luna’s captain. “It seems they’re at Anon’s shop.”

“Anon probably wanted to get to work early.” Luna mumbled.

Celestia agrees. It makes sense that at some point last night Anon probably went off to his place of work. Still, Celestia has the feeling that she’s missing something.

“Do you remember last night, Sister?”

Luna shakes her head. “No.”

Seems that they had a bit too much salt last night. Celestia can only hope that her indulgence hasn’t led to anything she’ll regret. She remembers what happened a few millennia ago when she used too much salt. A cold shiver runs down her spine at that thought.

“Do you feel an unease in the air?”

Luna opens one of her eyes so she can look at her sister.

“Yes, but I’m too tired to care.”

Celestia lets out a sigh.

“I’ll head over to my court for the morning. Gather your strength, Luna.”

Luna closes her eyes with a smile as she snuggles into her blankets. Celestia gets out of bed and readies herself for whatever is waiting for her. She doesn’t know why, but something is gnawing at the back of her mind.


	7. Waking Nightmare

Anon is standing in front of a door that he’s never seen before. Awhile ago Anon got bored with sitting inside of his own dream world, so he decided to walk around the room of doors for a while to practice his sensing powers. While it’s true that many ponies aren’t asleep right now, there are more than a few that daydream. So Anon walked around, felt some doors and got some much needed practice. What he found odd at the time was that Luna wasn’t anywhere to be found.

So that brings us to right now. Anon glances over to a door he’s seen before. Celestia’s door. It’s still chained shut so that none may enter. When he returns his gaze to the door before him, he finds it odd. At first glance Anon assumed it was Luna’s door. It has the same crescent moon just like her cutie mark, but it’s somehow different, he can’t put his finger on it. It’s true that Anon’s never seen Luna’s door before, but he knows that these doors always show the ponies cutie mark.

Anon can’t fight this feeling that something isn’t right. He rests the palm of his hand against the door and concentrates. He can feel a spike of loneliness race through his body. He feels something familiar about it and yet something so different. It’s as if he can feel Luna but also not. Another flux of emotions run through him, sadness, bitterness and anger.

He removes his hand and just stands there thinking. This very moment he has a choice to make. He either enters into this dream and hope this is Luna’s or ignore it and let whoever is in there suffer. Anon can feel a tugging inside of him. If it’s Luna, he doesn't want to leave her alone in a nightmare. Perhaps he can repay her for all the times she’s helped him with his nightmares?

With that thought, Anon knows what he must do. He gives himself one final nod, opens the door and without hesitation, steps inside.

* * *

Darkness. That’s all Anon can see. Everywhere he looks he finds nothing but darkness, but that’s not the only thing that’s here. The sound of someone crying quietly to themselves is in the air. Anon can’t shake a strong sense of wrongness that’s filling his insides right now. A certain feeling that he needs to run and leave as fast as he can.

That doesn’t matter, he needs to focus. Anon raises his hand and thinks of something that can help him right now. With a snap of his fingers a flashlight appears in the air before falling onto the floor. Anon picks up the light and sweeps it around to find anything in sight. There’s something wrong here. The darkness is moving away from his light, but never allowing him to see more than where his light is directly pointing.

This isn’t your normal everyday darkness. Anon cautiously walks forward unsure of where to go. As he looks around, he can’t see any landmarks or definable features. The floor beneath his feet is solid blackness, everything ahead of his flashlight is blackness, even the sky above him is devoid of a moon and stars. The only thing he can hear is that sound of crying.

Every step he takes he can hear it growing louder. It’s progress at the very least. Anon keeps focused and soon catches something at the edge of his flashlight. There’s something a few feet in front of him. It’s small, too small to be Luna, but whatever it is, it’s crying. Anon approaches the small creature until he’s standing next to it.

“Hello?”

A gasp leaves the creature. Slowly the small thing looks up at Anon.

“Luna?” Anon asks confused.

What he sees before him is a small faded blue filly. Anon can remember flashes of Luna’s memory when she was a child. It’s still hard for him to remember those times in her life, but it’s vaguely there. This is Luna when she was a filly.

“W-Who are you?” She asks, drying her eyes as she does so.

“Luna, it’s me. Are you alright?”

Luna looks down as her eyes start to moisten again.

“My sister hates me. My subjects hate me.”

So Anon was right, this is a nightmare. Yet he still finds his mind drift to the cutie mark on the door. There’s no time for that right now. He has to help her.

“Your sister loves you and your subjects are only afraid. They’ll understand if you give them time.”

She shakes her head. “They think I’m a monster. Maybe that’s what I am.”

“No, Luna. You’re not a monster. Just give it time.”

“They don’t know what monsters look like, sitting safely at home while I fight to keep them safe.” She says bitterly. “If they want a nightmare, then I’ll give them a nightmare!” She shouts in anger.

Anon backs up slightly as he sees the filly start to transform. Her pale blue coat turning as black as the night. Her smaller form growing to equal the size of Celestia. When she lifts her head, Anon can see the slits in her eyes and the long fangs hanging from her mouth as her mane turns into a blue mist. Whatever this pony is standing in front of him, it isn’t Luna. He needs to try and get her back into the right state of mind.

“Luna, it’s alrigh-”

“My name is Nightmare Moon!” The pony roars.

Anon’s light goes out, plunging him back into total darkness. It only takes a brief moment for Anon to take in that information. His worry slowly turning to anger. That was her. That was the pony that Luna’s kept from him. That was Nightmare Moon. Anon can only wonder how long Luna has been dealing with this nightmare. Well, not anymore. Anon doesn’t know how, but he’s going to return the favor. He raises his hand ready to put an end to this, but something unexpected happens.

The darkness splits open to show Nightmare Moon standing before him with her horn charged. She fires a blast into his chest sending him flying and landing on his back. He quickly grasps his chest in pain... He actually felt that!?

“It seems that Luna’s exotic taste in company hasn’t changed.”

Anon looks up to see Nightmare Moon looming over him as he lays on his back. She’s looking down at him with a smirk plastered on her face.

“You’re no ordinary nightmare.” Anon says with a sneer.

She raises a brow at him. “Hmmm? What’s with that look? Do you hate me?” She gives a throaty chuckle as she lays on top of him so they’re face to face. “What has Luna told you about me?”

“Not enough, but I’ve heard the story.”

“You should know that stories change depending on who’s telling them, Anon.”

Anon narrows his eyes at her. “How do you know my name?”

Another chuckle from Nightmare Moon. “There’s many things you still have to learn about Luna, but it’s not my place to say.” Nightmare Moon looks off into the distance. “I guess playtime is over.” She gives Anon a smirk. “Come again sometime.”

“Like I woul-”

Anon’s eyes shoot open as Nightmare Moon mashes her lips against his. Anon is so shocked that he can’t even think properly as she slips her tongue inside and gets a good feel. Nightmare Moon pulls away from him and can only chuckle at his expression. She gives him a wink and turns into a cloud of mist and retreats into the darkness. Anon doesn’t even notice Luna charging from the darkness with her horn lit. She quickly finds Anon still laying on the floor.

“Anon!” She gallops over to him. “What happened?”

Anon’s mind is still scrambled, but even he doesn’t know what happened.

“I-I think I’ve been molested.” He says honestly.

“What?!” Luna says with a blush on her muzzle.

Anon slowly gets to his feet. He needs to get out of here. He’s not able to process everything that just happened right now.

“I’ll talk to you later, Luna.”

Luna can only watch as Anon walks out the door that leads to her mind. Her worried expression quickly shifts to hate as she look over her withers towards the darkness in her mind.

“What did you do to him?” She asks.

Nightmare Moon materialises before Luna with a smirk on her face.

“Not much, just had a little fun.”

Luna gives a primal growl as she faces Nightmare Moon.

“Dare not lay a hoof on what is mine or I will make you regret such actions.”

“Is that so?” Nightmare Moon tests. When she sees Luna narrow her eyes she decides to wave her off. “Relax. Not like I can do anything since the Elements of Harmony locked me inside your mind.”

“If only they had destroyed you.” Luna mutters to herself.

Nightmare Moon ignores that. “However, should your little friend return, I cannot be blamed for what I do.” She licks her lips some. “I can think of many _games_ we could play together.”

Luna can feel a blush on her face, understanding what Nightmare means.

“You’re incorrigible.” She says with a scoff.

“I’m a mare that knows what she wants. Can you claim the same thing?”

With a mocking laugh Nightmare Moon returns to the darkness. Luna’s feathers are rustled. Damn that mare for scaring Anon away. She knew that something like this would happen if she didn’t lock her dreams away, but it takes so long for her to move freely between realms. She lets out a snort. She needs to talk to Anon about what happened. As much as she dislikes this, she needs him to see the darker part of her past and the mare that resides in her mind.

* * *

Anon quickly sits up in shock as he awakes from his slumber. His labored breaths and cold sweat are the only things to greet him. He can’t ignore what he just experienced. He was frenched by a horse, Nightmare Moon no less! What is she doing in Luna’s head? Why hasn’t he seen her before? There’s just too many questions and only one pony with answers.

He needs to talk to Luna, but he’s going to put it off until later. He needs time to come to grips with what happened. The worst part is that he can still taste her. A bittersweet taste that’ll haunt him for longer than he’s willing to admit. That’s the first time he’s ever been kissed by anything! Anon quickly grasps his head in pain. That’s great, he still has a hangover to deal with. He wants to ask if his day can get any worse, but he already knows that it will. It’s just one of those days.

“Good to see you’re awake.”

Anon jumps up slightly in shock from the new voice. He quickly looks over to his bedside with a sigh.

“Blossom. It’s just you.”

“Who else were you expecting?” She asks.

“With what I’ve been through...” He lets out a sigh. “Just forget it. What do you want?”

“Just here to inform you that your shop is open and the ponies are training as we speak.”

That’s good to know. Anon looks around the room and realises that he’s in Bonbon and Lyra’s room. It then comes back to him on how he woke up this morning before going back to sleep.

“What’s the damage?” He asks Blossom.

A smirk slowly grows on her lips. “Nothing major, but I can’t wait for this day to start.”

Anon has a bad feeling about this.

“The sisters?”

“Fine. Celestia should be in morning court as we speak.”

“Good. So what are you going to do?”

She shrugs. “I’ll have a few knights watching you while I train a few ponies.”

“Alright. See you later, I guess.”

She chuckles. “Enjoy.”

“What do you mean by th-” Anon looks over to see that Blossom is nowhere to be found. “Damn bat pony.”

Anon lets out a long sigh and decides that he just needs to man up and face whatever is to come. Yet he can’t fight back this sinking feeling inside of him. He just knows that he’s going to regret last night... Then again, he’s already regretting stuff. Why not pile on?

* * *

Celestia is sitting on her throne as she look over the long line of ponies waiting to chat with her. The only problem is that every single one of them has a box laying on their backs. She takes a long breath in with her eyes closed and lets it out. She looks over to one of her guards that’s beside her to ask him a question.

“Can you explain why these ponies have boxes with them?”

The guard gives her a salute before answering.

“You informed us that anypony that wishes to speak to you must bring a cake with them for your consumption.”

Once again Celestia has to take a slow breath in through her nose and let it out of her mouth. It seems that she got into shenanigans because of that salt. She can only hope that this is the worst of it, but that feeling in the air is still there.

“Please bring Shining Armor to me. This is urgent.”

The guard gives a salute and quickly takes off. Another guard on the other side of Celestia speaks up.

“What about morning court?”

Celestia shakes her head some as she summons a large table beside the door.

“Send the first pony in and have them place their box on the table.”

He gives a salute and gallops to the door ready to accept each pony that wishes to speak.

“This is going to be a long day.” Celestia whispers to herself.

* * *

Anon walks down the stairs and into the store front. Lyra is already working the register as a few early regulars are placing orders for what they want. She turns to look over at the noise and notices Anon walking down the stairs. There’s a large blush on her face as she gives him a small wave before returning to help with her customer. Anon can only shake his head some as he walks past her and into the kitchen.

As Anon enters, he finds that everything is already running smoothly. All the ponies are at their stations and starting up their batches of candy for the day. He looks over to see Bonbon is also at her desk looking over some paperwork. Seeing no pony that needs assistance, he walks over and takes a seat beside Bonbon.

“You know, I don’t appreciate you falling asleep on our bed.” Bonbon says without looking up from her work. “Not like Lyra was complaining.”

Anon lets out a sigh at that. “Sorry about that, Bonbon. Got wasted with the princesses.”

That gets a reaction out of her. She looks up at him in surprise. She’s never heard of either of the princesses drinking before.

“I must say that’s rather surprising.” Bonbon admits.

“Yeah. Luna made some stuff from my world and we decided to celebrate a little.”

“That would explain some of the odd things I’ve been hearing.”

“Odd things?”

Bonbon nods. “I heard that if you go to morning court, you need to bring a cake with you.”

Anon tries to suppress it, but a large smile breaks out onto his face. That sounds like something Celestia would ask for while she was drunk.

“Hear anything else?”

“Nothing as of yet. The only reason I heard that is because some of our regulars were talking about it.”

That makes sense. Ponies tend to gossip at the shop a lot. Anon was surprised about how much he could learn just by sitting at a booth in the store. He’s not sure how much of it is true, but he does hear a lot of interesting things. Well, there’s nothing Anon can do about that right now, he might as well focus on his store.

“So how’re the ponies holding up?”

“Everything is going well. Even Butterhooves is doing alright.”

Anon looks over to Butterhooves’ station. He does seem to be less shaky today.

“Let’s hope he continues to do well. I’d hate to fire him.”

Bonbon scoffs. “You wouldn’t fire him.”

Anon shrugs. “Probably not. Need any help?”

“No, I’m fine. Lyra could use the help at the front.”

“Alright. Talk to you later, Bonbon.”

Anon casts one last glance over to the kitchen where the ponies are working hard. Seeing this does make him feel a bit better about today, but it’s still far from over.


	8. Hangovers are never easy

Anon takes a slow breath in through his nose and lets it out his mouth. This ritual of his seems to do little to calm him. He deals with this kind of stuff on a daily, but with how shitty his day has been going, not to mention the hangover, he finds his last nerve being pulled. He honestly doesn’t know why he’s doing this, but it’s already too late to stop now.

“There is no way I’m selling my candy for any lower than the marked price. The price has always been the same since day one. We here at Anon’s shop make sure that the candy we produce is of the highest quality when compared to our competitors, at the fraction of the cost. Selling it any lower would be nothing less than an insult to myself and the ponies that work for me.”

Anon can’t even count how many times he’s said this before. Again, it’s a daily thing, but the hangover is making him sound far more irritated than usual. He would like to crawl into bed and sleep it off, but a job’s a job and he’s not going to put a harder workload on Lyra and Bonbon because of his night of debauchery. If only his brain didn’t feel like it had a heartbeat, then he’d be doing fine right now.

“There is no way I’d pay this outlandish amount for candy?!”

That’s the last straw. He’s heard a lot from these ponies, but he’s not going to sit here and just take this shit, not while he feels as horrible as he does right now.

“Outlandish?!” He shouts catching the mare off guard from the volume change. “How much of a cheapskate are you that you can’t pay two bits for a bag of chocolate?!”

The mare looks offended. “How dare you?!”

“How dare I?! How dare you come into my shop and try to weasel your way into getting a lower price, which I might add is practically dirt cheap?!”

“Um, Anon?” Lyra tries to grab his attention.

“One second, Lyra.” Anon says calmly, never losing eye contact with the mare in front of him. “I swear you posh Canterlot types are the most stingy, cheap and annoying ponies on this planet! Hell, the only reason I’m even here is because it’s easier to visit the princesses!”

The mare is frozen in place unsure how to answer. She doesn’t know how to respond to Anon’s hostility. Lyra feels kinda bad for the mare. This isn’t uncommon for the shop. Lyra has seen more than a few new customers come in and try to bargain with Anon over the price. While she will admit that he seems far more irritated than previous times this has happened, what he says is true. The prices for his candy is the lowest here in Canterlot.

Many of the other stores have prices that nearly triple his. Though he won’t admit it, Lyra knows he makes the price low so foals can come into the shop without worrying over how much his candy costs. Not to mention that he makes every pony that cooks or touches the product wash their hooves every few minutes to ensure cleanliness. Still, Anon shouldn’t have to do this, seeing as she’s here to help.

“Anon.” Lyra rests her hoof on his hand to grab his attention. Anon looks back at her. “Why don’t you take a few minutes to cool off?”

Anon can see that all the ponies in the store are looking his way. Lyra’s right. This hangover is making him far more irritated than usual. He needs to get a grip. Perhaps some fresh air will do him some good?

“Yeah, I think I’ll do that.”

As Anon walks away he can hear the pony he yelled at before letting out a snort.

“Now that the beast is gone, let’s talk pr-”

“You cheap broodmare!” Lyra yells. “Don’t you dare talk about Anon that way!”

Anon can’t fight his smile as he walks out of the shop. Yeah, a bit of fresh air will definitely help him.

* * *

“I’m sorry?” Shining looks at the Princess confused.

“It’s as I said, Captain. Any and all orders given by me last night were made while I was under the influence of salt. I need you to inform me about any and all things that may have transpired that night.”

Well, that does make a bit of sense now that Shining thinks about it. Both of the sisters and Anon seemed to be acting very strange last night. Shining didn’t think much about it seeing as they weren’t causing trouble, at least for him. He casts a brief glance at the table that’s filled with cake boxes. There is that.

“Well... I guess it all started when the three of you came into the barracks.”

* * *

Shining is looking over a few more forms that were sent in by ponies that wish to join the guard. Many of them have references and contacts from jobs to vouch for them. That matters little in the royal guard. If ponies can’t complete the training then there’s no way they’ll be accepted. He’ll need to plan a gathering to put these stallions to the test. Shining has seen a lot of things in his time with the guard and those colts need to be ready for anything, because that’s what truly makes the guard special, to look at any situation with a stoic and controlled attitude.

Shining’s attention is taken from him as he hears a large bang from outside his office. Then the laughter of ponies can be heard echoing all the way to his office. He doesn’t know what’s going on, but if some of the privates went out partying again, he’s going to make them gallop till they vomit. Shining gets out of his seat and walks to his office door. When he opens it, he pauses at what he sees.

“I think we went the wrong way.” Anon says to Luna.

“I think you are right.”

“Princess Luna? Anon?” It seems they’re not alone either. “Princess Celestia?”

Shining notices that Celestia also comes walking into the barracks a few moments after Anon and Luna. Anon takes notice of Shining and stumbles over to him. He’s always been curious about something. Shining can already smell the alcohol on Anon, it’s practically filling the room. Do humans even get drunk? Well, it seems like it. Anon kneels down, swaying as he does so. He then grabs Shining’s chest plate and pulls him close so they’re face to face.

“T-Tell me shumthin.” Anon slurs. “Your name, how’d you get your name?”

Shining is thoroughly confused. However, he’s dealt with drunks before. It’s best to play their games if they aren’t acting violent.

“My parents named me Shining Armor.” He answers honestly.

“~I told you.~” Celestia calls out in a singsong voice.

Anon whips around to face her. “Quiet! I don't believe you ponies name your kids so perfectly.”

“It’s magic.”

Shining can see Anon getting red in the face, if that were even possible given his current state. Anon quickly turns back to face Shining. He looks him over a bit before a grin appears on his face.

“Aha! How do you explain that?” Anon points to his armor. “It’s not shiny at all!”

Shining looks down at his armor. It _has_ been a few days since he last polished it.

“Just admit it’s magic.” Celestia says.

“Never!” Anon stands back up and walks up to Celestia. “Why is he a guard and not a janitor that cleans armor?!”

“~Anon~”

Shining watches as Luna stands onto her back hooves and wraps her forehooves around Anon’s waist. Are the princesses also drunk? He shakes that thought away. In all the years being here, Shining has never seen either sister get drunk. Well, at least, Celestia doesn’t look drunk. Luna on the other hoof looks to be just as trashed as Anon.

“L-Let’s forget about this and do something fun.” Luna suggests.

Anon shakes his head as if trying to focus.

“What should we do?”

“I want to go to the coliseum. Let us battle, like the good old days.”

Anon nods. “Sure, that sounds fun.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, sister.” Celestia speaks up.

“Come now, Tia. We ride!”

Luna lets go of Anon and slips under his legs so that he’s seated on her back. The both of them running off before Celestia can respond. She looks back over to Shining and walks up to him with her usual grace.

“Shining Armor. Should ponies come to morning court, they must bring a cake with them.”

“Um, prince-”

“That is an order, Captain.”

“Ok...” This night is getting weirder by the minute.

Without another word Princess Celestia leaves in a mad dash. Maybe this has something to do with Anon? Well, it doesn’t matter. He needs to figure out how to inform everypony about the new rule for morning court, before tomorrow. He lets out a sigh. This is going to be a long night.

* * *

“That’s all you know?” Celestia asks.

Shining nods. “After that, the three of you left.”

Celestia gives a thoughtful nod. So what happened after that? It’s pointless for her mind to dwell on something she cannot know.

“Thank you for taking the time to speak with me, Captain. Return to your duties and please inform everypony that bringing a cake is no longer required for morning court.”

He gives a nod. “Very well.”

Celestia watches Shining leave her court. No matter how hard she tries to wrack her brain, she can’t find any memories of last night. She can only hope that this is as far as their shenanigans went. She magics over one of the boxes of cake. At least this will help make her feel better.

* * *

Anon is walking down the streets of Canterlot trying to clear his thoughts. He wished this place had some kind of hangover magic, but that sadly isn’t a thing in either world. At least, the fresh air is making him feel better. He looks at all the shops, peering through the windows to see what each owner has for sale. There are many things for sale in Canterlot, if you look hard enough you can pretty much find anything. Anon remembers the one time he walked into a pony sex shop. That was something he could’ve lived the rest of his life not knowing. Anon turns away from some jewelry store but feels something poking his leg.

That’s odd... Anon reaches inside his pocket and feels his hand graze something. With his curiosity growing, he gently grasps whatever it is and pulls it out. Why does he have a yellow feather in his pants? It’s not just any run of the mill feather either. It looks pretty large, not Celestia large, but rather large. Anon can only sit there and look at the feather in thought. Where did it come from?

“Why didn’t you tell me you got a marefriend?”

Anon jumps in shock at the sudden voice and quickly turns to face it. Floating beside him is Spitfire. His shock quickly turns to happiness.

“Hey! It’s been awhile since I’ve seen you.” Anon says genuinely happy to see her.

She lands beside him.

“I know. I’ve been busy, as usual.” She then waggles her eyebrows. “So have you, if that feather is anything to go by.”

Anon is confused now. He looks at the feather in his hand and then back at Spitfire.

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t know?”

“No?”

She shakes her head. “That’s a primary feather. Only somepony special will give you their primary feather like that.”

Anon hates this place the longer he stays here. So much stuff about this culture he doesn’t understand. However, the real question is where he got the feather? There seems to be a mystery on his hands.

“Curiouser and curiouser.”

Anon moves the feather closer to Spitfire until it’s touching her fur. He can hear her chuckle.

“It’s not from me. As much as I like you, I don’t think we’ve known each other long enough for me to be interested.” She then bumps him with her hips. “Get to know me more and maybe we can fool around.” Anon feels his face redden. That makes Spitfire laugh at his embarrassment. “Lighten up, Anon. I’m just messing with you.”

Anon can only shake his head as he looks over the feather again. Why does this color look so familiar? What pony does he know that’s yellow?

“Oh, Anon! I’m so glad I found you.”

Anon freezes as all the pieces fall into place. The voice that just called to him, the yellow feather in his hand. This is Fluttershy’s feather. Anon painstakingly turns to where he heard the voice. Fluttershy is standing there looking up at him with a smile. She notices an odd look he’s giving her.

“You don’t look so good, Anon. Are you alright?”

Anon closes his eyes and takes a slow breath in and lets it out. He can’t overreact right now. That won’t solve anything, only the truth will solve his problems. When he opens his eyes he notices that both Spitfire and Fluttershy are looking at him with concern. Anon takes the feather and puts it into his pocket. He’d rather do this somewhere private. It’s probably another misunderstanding, like that one time when he was naked in bed with the princesses.

Anon clears his throat some. “Sorry. Fluttershy, this is Spitfire. Spitfire, Fluttershy.”

The both of them look at each other. Spitfire extends her hoof and Fluttershy does the same.

“So you know Anon?” Spitfire asks as they shake hooves.

“Kinda.”

Anon interrupts them before they start talking. He needs to get this entire thing off his mind. One less thing to worry about on this day will be a saving grace.

“Sorry if this is sudden, but are you busy, Fluttershy?” Anon asks.

She shakes her head. “Not at all. What do you need?”

“I need to talk to you. Can we head on back to the castle?”

“Um, ok.”

“Great.” Anon looks back to Spitfire. “Will you be free later?”

Spitfire nods. “Yeah, today’s my day off.”

“Cool, maybe we can hang out?”

Spitfire looks at Anon confused. Does this have something to do with that feather? Spitfire looks at Fluttershy and takes notices of her color. It finally hits her. Well, it’s not any of her business anyways.

“Yeah, I’ll stop by the castle later.”

Anon is quick to turn on his heels towards the castle. Fluttershy looks over at Spitfire and pauses for a second.

“It was nice meeting you.” She whispers.

“Nice to meet you too.”

Fluttershy quickly trots after Anon, leaving Spitfire alone. Not that she minds. She’ll probably head over to his shop for a bit. It is her day off after all.

* * *

Fluttershy has been following Anon the entire way through Canterlot and back to the castle. The entire time Anon hasn’t spoken a single word to her. They’ve just been walking in silence. She hopes that he’s alright. She honestly hasn’t known him long enough to know if this attitude is a good or bad thing, but it kinda reminds her of how he acted around her before they talked. Finally, Anon makes it to his room and shows Fluttershy inside. Once he’s sure they’re alone he speaks to her.

“I’m not going to make this longer than it needs to be.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the feather. “How did I get this?”

Fluttershy perks up when she sees the feather.

“Oh, that’s easy. You took it from me.”

“I took it?”

She nods. “Yesterday you asked if you could have it. You were a bit intoxicated, but I was alright with it.”

Fluttershy knows about yesterday? This could be good, here’s his chance to learn more about what happened.

“Tell me everything you know.”

Fluttershy is glad to know that Anon isn’t in a bad mood. Not only that but he wants to talk to her. She’s hopeful that this is a small step towards a possible friendship. She doesn’t expect it to happen overnight, but every little bit counts.

“Alright. First, it started when I was heading towards the dining hall.”

* * *

“I hope the princesses don’t mind me being a bit late.” Fluttershy whispers for herself.

Fluttershy is walking down towards the dining room where the princesses and Anon are waiting. She knows deep down that Anon and her will probably never be friends, but she’s happy knowing that he’s, at least, willing to be around her. It’s a far different side of him than she’s used to seeing. Now she actually gets to eat dinner with him. She wonders if he’ll eat any meat as she finds her mind worrying over his dietary health. Maybe that’s just her guilt from the past, but she knows that it’s just in her nature to worry.

As Fluttershy approaches the dining room she can already hear laughing coming from within. She’s surprised when she can clearly hear the most masculine voice laughing inside. Is Anon laughing? She doesn’t know of any other pony that should be in there other than Blueblood and Fluttershy knows that he’s been stuck in his room trying to figure out what to wear for dinner. Fluttershy hesitates at the door. Should she intrude? Maybe she shouldn’t, Anon is, after all, having a fun time. So maybe she would ruin it?

However, the choice in the matter wasn’t up to her. The doors to the dining room fly open to reveal the two sister’s and Anon. What Fluttershy notices first is the strong scent of alcohol. The next thing she notices is the large smiles on all three of their faces. Anon looks down and his smile seems to grow as he spots Fluttershy.

“H-Hey Fluttur, F-Flutterby. What’ch uh up to?”

Fluttershy can sense that something isn’t right here. Anon doesn’t seem like he’s coherent and she can assume that it’s probably from alcohol. She’s seen more than a few ponies get drunk during cider season, so she knows the signs.

“Oh, Anon.” She flies up and places a hoof on his shoulder. “Here, let me get you to bed. You shouldn’t be walking around like this.”

“Is no problem, Butter... Flubbershy.”

“I insist that you get some rest. I’ve seen what drinking can do to a pony.”

“T-There ain’t no ponies here, just one human and three ponies.” He chuckles a bit to himself.

“Anon, I want to do something fun!” Luna says.

Anon nods. “Yeah, fun... Let’s go to the Everfree and fight some stuff.”

Luna’s eyes shine brightly at that, but both Celestia and Fluttershy don’t seem to like that idea.

“You can’t do that!” Fluttershy shouts. “You could get seriously hurt.”

“I agree.” Celestia nods her head.

“Killjoy.” Anon says. He then looks at Luna. “What else is there to do?”

“I say we find something to tip over.”

Anon nods. “I can get behind that!”

Anon and Luna both walk over to something and start pushing.

“Anon...” Fluttershy calls out.

“Not now, Butterfly. I’m pushing things.”

“That’s a pillar.” Fluttershy states aloud.

Both Anon and Luna look up to see that what they’re pushing is, in fact, a pillar. Well, so much for that plan.

“Now that you’ve got that out of your system.” Celestia speaks up. “I suggest we go to the fair.”

Anon and Luna look at each other, the both of them shrugging at that.

“Fine by me.” Anon says.

Fluttershy doesn’t know what to do to stop them. She knows that they can get into a lot of trouble if she lets them go. However, she is brought from her thoughts as a shadow hangs over her. She looks up to see Anon is standing there looking down at her. He crouches down so they are face to face.

“I know you’re not a bad pony.”

Fluttershy is surprised at how clear and articulate that sentence was. Did Anon really believe that?

“Ano-”

Fluttershy jumps in shock as she feels a small twinge in her wing. She looks over to see that Anon pulled one of her primaries out.

“Mind if I kept this?” Anon asks in his oddly coherent tone.

Fluttershy can feel her face redden as she looks down at her hooves.

“O-Oh, Anon... I don't think I really feel the same wa-”

Fluttershy looks back up and doesn’t see Anon. Instead, she notices that he’s standing next to Luna as he tickles one of her ears with Fluttershy’s feather on one side of her ear, then when she looks that way he quickly moves his hand away, only to repeat the process. Fluttershy lets out a breath she wasn’t even aware she was holding as she once again faces the floor. For a second there, she actually thought... Well, that’s not important. She needs to stop them before things get out of hoof.

Fluttershy looks up to find that no pony or human is left in the hallway. She quickly spins around to find that they’re no longer in sight. Her shoulders slouch as she lets out a sigh. The chances of her finding them are slim, all she can do now is wait and maybe stop them when she finds them again.

* * *

“That was the last time I saw the three of you.” Fluttershy finishes her story.

“Really?” Fluttershy nods. “So, this feather is meaningless?” She nods again with a visible blush. “Well, that’s a load off my mind. So we went to the fair?”

“I can’t say for sure. All I know is that the three of you left in a hurry.”

“So what happened with you and Blueblood?” Anon asks curiously.

“That’s the weird thing. Blueblood never came to dinner. I just assumed he fell asleep in his room.”

Anon scratches his chin in thought. It’s slim, but it could possibly be another lead.

“Thank you for the help, Fluttershy.”

“Oh, it was no problem.”

Anon walks over to his door and opens it. He stops briefly and turns to face Fluttershy.

“You’re going to be leaving today, right?” He asks.

She nods. “I’ve already packed. I was just walking to the station to buy the ticket when I bumped into you.”

Anon isn’t sure why he’s doing this, but Fluttershy has been helpful to him. So it’s the least he can do to repay her.

“There’s going to be a party on Saturday. You wouldn’t be interested in coming would you?”

Fluttershy is frozen in shock. Did Anon just invite her to a party?

“Um... Yes, I would love to go.”

“Alright. It’ll be here at the castle. Pinkie and a few friends will be there.” Anon can already feel a sense of awkwardness building. “I gotta go. See you then, Fluttershy”

“See you, Anon.”

Fluttershy can feel a smile on her face. She can do this, she knows she can. It’ll just take baby steps to get Anon to be her friend. If she’s good at anything, it’s taking things slow.


	9. What you least expect

Damn that mare to Tartarus! Luna still can’t get over what happened inside her mind. How dare she touch Anon! Luna grits her teeth in thought of why the elements did this to her. She’s spent countless nights wishing that the one thing to haunt her past would’ve been erased from existence. Yet that wasn’t the case. She knows not why the elements left that mare inside of her, but it’s something she has to live with. She hopes that Anon will not blame her for what happened. She knows that he’ll understand, but there’s that small part of her that’s afraid of losing his trust. He may say that he trusts her, but there will always be that voice in the back of his mind, warning him of what lies beneath the surface.

Luna has seen that side from her own sister. She’s never talked about it, but Luna knew what her sister was thinking whenever they made eye contact. That wariness. Since Anon has been spending time with her, Luna has seen that side of her lifted. She’s happy for that, but it would hurt her if the same thing were to happen with Anon. Her heart aches at that thought. She never wants to lose him. He understands her in more ways than any other pony, except her own sister of course, yet there are just some things that not even her own sister can understand.

Luna looks up from the floor in thought. She’s been walking to her captain’s room. She needs to speak with her about many things. Primarily what happened yesterday. She knows that getting the full story will help put everyone's mind at ease. Luna knocks on the door and waits. Her captain soon comes and answers. She’s quick to give a bow.

“What brings you to my room, Princess?”

“You were following us last night, correct?” Luna asks.

“Indeed, I was.”

“Then please enlighten me on what transpired.”

Blossom returns from her bow and waves the princess in.

“Please come in and take a seat.”

Luna doesn’t pause as she walks inside and takes a seat. This wouldn’t be the first time she’s been in her captain's room. Before her banishment, the two of them spent many nights conversing with one another about a great many things. Luna believed in being close to her knights, as familiarity breeds trust. Blossom closes the door and sits across from Luna.

“I should start by saying that I didn’t start following you until I was informed by one of my ponies that you, Anon and your sister were acting strange.” Blossom says as Luna nods. “By the time I got there you and Anon were running out of the castle.”

“Alright, so tell me what happened.”

“Understood.”

* * *

Blossom is flying overhead of the princess and Anon as they run down the streets of Canterlot. It seems that what she heard from her stallions was accurate. There’s definitely something wrong with those two. She would go down to investigate but there seems to be no danger as of yet. Blossom lands onto a nearby building as she notices Luna stopping in her tracks. She angles her ears so she can pick up what they’re saying.

“Anon, why are we in the streets again?”

Blossom can see that Anon is swaying slightly on Luna’s back. It almost seems as if he’s intoxicated? Is that what this is all about? Are the two of them drunk? It would make a degree of sense.

“I don’t remember. I think we were going to do something fun.” Anon responds.

“Fun?” Blossom whispers to herself.

Blossom notices Luna’s ears flicker towards her direction. Did Luna hear her just then? That doesn’t seem to be the case as Luna looks off into a different direction. A large smile on her face.

“Anon, what are your thoughts on nightclubs?”

“I don’t know? I’ve never been to one.”

“I haven’t either. Would you care to join me at such an event?”

“Sure thing, Lulu.”

That causes Blossom to raise a brow. This is the first time she’s ever heard another creature call Luna by a pet name. Is Luna blushing?

“Very well.” Luna says with a smile.

Before Blossom can question anymore of what she saw, Luna takes off towards a rather well-known nightclub in Canterlot. This is going to be tricky for Blossom to stay undercover, but hopefully, the large crowds will make it easier.

* * *

“Lulu?” Luna asks with her face growing red.

“Is that a name he calls you often?” Blossom asks with a noticeable grin.

She shakes her head. “I’ve not heard him utter that name before in all my time with him.”

Blossom hums to herself. It’s all so interesting how much she’s learning about those two.

“Shall I continue?”

Luna nods. “Please.”

* * *

Blossom lets Anon and Luna get into the club a few minutes before she decided to sneak her way in. It wasn’t very hard and now she blended with the crowd and watches from afar as Luna and Anon sit in a booth alone. It’s a bit hard for her to hear what they are saying, but her ears aren’t just for show.

“This place is pretty nice.” Anon says to Luna.

“I know! There are so many lively ponies here.”

“So what do ponies do here?”

“They drink, dance and have fun.”

“Well, I’m already smashed. Wanna dance, Lulu?”

Luna giggles. “I have not danced in many moons, Anon. I fear my skills may have rusted.”

Anon gets up from the table and offers Luna his hand.

“Come on. We were looking to have fun, right?”

Luna has a hard time containing her grin.

“Very well.”

Blossom watches as the two of them walk from their booth and towards the dance floor. Blossom isn’t sure what to think about all this. So she moves with the crowd so she can stay out of sight. The ponies give Anon and Luna a wide berth as they make it to the center of the dance floor.

“So what should we do?” Luna asks.

Anon has a large smile on his face.

“Remember when you went into my head?” She nods. “Do you think you can swing?”

Luna starts giggling like a school filly, something Blossom hasn’t seen in a long time. She looks back up at Anon with a huge grin.

“Let’s give these ponies a show.”

Blossom has no idea what to expect as she watches Anon and Luna get into position. Luna is up on her hind hooves as she rests her forehooves on Anon’s shoulders. It seems that everypony in the entire club is looking their way. They both give each other a smile as they nod in unison. Anon takes Luna’s hoof into his hand and starts to twirl her around. Everypony is silent now as they watch Anon spinning the princess. Soon he extends his arm out and Luna’s spin ends with her striking a pose. Anon pulls her back quickly to his side as he starts to move his feet in a pattern that even Blossom finds herself mesmerized by.

Anon brings Luna in front of him and picks her up, sweeps her under his legs as Luna lands behind him and pulls his arms up, which makes Anon do a front flip. Now all the ponies are cheering them on as Luna pulls Anon to her side. The both of their legs are moving in sync as they continue to display a motion that looks as if they’re gliding on air. Anon does a few more twirls with Luna before he picks her up again, but unlike the last time, this time, he wraps her around his body. The entire motion looks so fluid to Blossom as Luna snakes down Anon’s body and between his legs, ending with another pose.

Anon then quickly picks Luna up and as they return to each other, pressing their bodies firmly together as they face one another. They glide around the dance floor for a moment, just before the entire display ends with Anon dipping Luna low to the ground, their faces only inches from the other. No pony in the club can contain themselves as their cheers turn to hollers. Anon pulls up from his dip, the two of them still inches from one another. The crowd seems to be eating it up as they finally break eye contact. The both of them are red in the face as they look out to the crowd. All ponies are stomping their hooves in cheer.

“That was fun.” Anon says.

“Very, I would enjoy doing that again sometime.” Luna’s face gets redder. “Perhaps we could practice in private?”

“Sure, I could do this again. It was really fun.”

Just before Blossom could question what Luna meant by that, Celestia comes walking into the club. She scans the room until she rests her gaze on Anon and Luna. They don’t even realize she’s there until she used her magic to drag the both of them out of the club.

* * *

“That’s when I stopped following. It looked like Celestia had everything in her hooves from there.”

Blossom looks at Luna and can see how red her face is.

“I-I did not expect to hear this, Blossom.”

Blossom chuckles a bit. “Yeah, the two of you really put on a show. What was that “swing” dance anyways?”

“Something from Anon’s world. Did we really dance so well?”

Blossom nods. “It was like you two were a single pony. I've never seen such fluid dancing like that before. I’d say it was even better, seeing as you two were drunk.”

Luna takes a minute to compose herself.

“I think I should be going. Thank you for regaling me.”

“No need for thanks, I was plenty entertained with last night.”

Luna’s embarrassment is at its peak as she rises from her seat and quickly shows herself out of Blossom’s room. Blossom can only chuckle to herself. It seems that the princess has a bit of a crush, whether she knows it or not.

* * *

Celestia is already on her sixth cake, but she stops mid bite as somepony knock on her throne room door. Her brow raises as she rests her fork into the box and places the cake beside her. Who could be coming to see her? She stopped day court awhile ago.

“Princess?” The guard sitting beside her questions what he should do.

Celestia looks down at him and nods her head towards the door. The guard doesn’t hesitate as he trots over to the door and uses his magic to open it. Celestia notices that he bows before whoever is behind it. Her curiosity is peaked as the door slowly opens to reveal the pony behind it.

“Is that who I think it is?” Celestia asks with a smile on her face.

“Of course, aunty!” Cadance says, returning the smile.

Celestia rises from her throne and meets Cadance half way. They embrace one another in a hug.

“It’s been so long since I’ve seen you.” Celestia says happy to see her niece.

“I know. Things were busy over in Griffus.”

“So, how much did you learn?”

“A lot. I don’t think I’ve ever met so many interesting creatures in my life.”

Celestia chuckles at that. It’s been two months since Cadance left to practice her diplomatic skills over in Griffus. It was just one of the many steps she needs to take before becoming a proper princess. At least, she’ll be one in time.

“Have you seen Shining Armor yet?”

Cadance shakes her head. “Not yet, I wanted to surprise him.”

“That’s good. So do you plan on inviting him for dinner tonight?”

“Do you mind?”

“Not at all. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled just to be with you.”

Cadance blushes some. “Well, I’ll be thrilled to be with him too.” Cadance then remembers something. “Oh! Is your friend going to be there too? What is his name?”

Friend? Oh, does she mean Anon? Now that Celestia thinks about it, Cadance didn’t get a chance to meet Anon. Shining was spending time with Cadance when Anon’s birthday was happening and she set off the very next day. So she hasn’t met him yet.

“Anon, and I’m afraid that he won’t be joining us. If I remember correctly he’s going to be at his shop to help train some ponies.”

“That’s a shame. I really wanted to meet him.”

“How about you come to a party he’s throwing? I know he said it was just for friends, but I really want you to meet him.”

“Are you sure it’s alright? I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

Celestia waves it off.

“Don’t worry. Anon may be a bit tough to deal with in the beginning, but I can assure you he’s very sweet.”

Cadance chuckles a bit. “You always talk so highly of him, Aunty.”

“Well, he is very special to me and my sister. I guess I do praise him a bit more than I realize.”

Cadance hugs her aunt again. “It’s good to see you happy.” She pulls away and gives her a nod. “I’m going to go surprise Shiny.”

“Of course, just don’t surprise him too much, he’s still on the job.”

“I’ll try my best to contain myself.”

Celestia gives Cadance a wave as she trots out of her throne room. Once she’s gone does Celestia give a small sigh. She is a bit worried about how Anon will react to seeing Cadance there. After all, she’s never told Anon about her niece before. She shakes those thoughts away. She’s worrying over nothing. Anon doesn’t have any bad blood with Cadance, it should be fine. Celestia looks over to the mountain of cake still in her throne room. She’s barely made a dent in it.

“Guard.”

“Yes, Princess?”

“Please take these cakes to my room. If anypony should need me, I’ll be there.”

“As you wish.”

Celestia feels a smile on her face. If she’s going to enjoy herself, she might as well get comfortable.

* * *

Anon is making his way towards Blueblood’s bedroom. He needs to find out what happened last night and Blue may be the only pony that knows something. It’s a long shot, but it’s worth a try. Finding Blueblood’s room doesn’t take long, as it’s located a few doors from his own. Anon can think of a few memories of when Blue came to his bedroom after having a nightmare. Cuddling with the big lug would’ve been awkward if it wasn’t for the fact that Blueblood was genuinely scared. However, that thought is irrelevant. It’s time to see if Blue is still asleep in his room.

As Anon makes his approach, he notices something odd in the air. Is that the smell of cotton candy? Anon doesn’t know why, but he can feel a raging clue coming on. The smell of cotton candy seems to intensify the closer he gets to Blueblood’s room. There’s definitely something afoot. A mystery that needs solving. Anon is before Blue’s door and the smell is almost unbearable. Anon knocks on the door a few times and waits for an answer.

Times passes and no one answers. There’s something wrong here and Anon can’t help but worry. There’s a chance that Blue isn’t in his room, but something deep down is telling him that isn’t the case. He needs to make sure that everything is alright. Anon tests the handle to see if it’s unlocked. It turns freely. Well, he might as well check.

“Blue?” Anon opens the door slowly.

As soon as the door opens the scent of cotton candy is so strong that Anon covers his face. He can feel his lungs wanting to gasp for clean air, but he’s not going to stop just yet.

“Anon?” A muffled voice calls from deep within the room.

Anon removes his hand from his face and is stunned by what he sees. Before Anon is something that his mind cannot even register. Blueblood’s entire room is filled with cotton candy. A literal wall of cotton candy is keeping him from seeing what is within.

“Blue?” Anon calls out again.

“Anon! Can you hear me!”

That definitely sounds like Blueblood’s voice.

“What happened?!” Anon shouts into the wall of candy.

“Get me out of here! My coat and mane are absolutely filthy!”

Blueblood is talking in his royal voice, this is serious.

“Don’t worry, Blue! I’ll get you out of there!”

Anon runs up to the wall of candy. He tries to tear into it, but it’s too thick. Not only that, but he can’t eat it either, it’s just too much candy for one man to handle. A useless thought comes to his mind.

“If only Pinkie was he-”

“You called?”

Anon jumps in shock as he looks over to see Pinkie standing beside him.

“Jesus, Pinkie?! Where the hell did you come from?!”

Pinkie giggles at Anon’s reaction.

“That’s for me to know and you to find out, at dinner tonight! I want you to meet somepony. Are you free this evening?”

Anon takes a few seconds to calm his rapidly beating heart. He shakes his head at Pinkie’s antics, but it’s one of the things he’s come to accept about her.

“Yes, I’m free, but I’ll only go to dinner with you if you help me save Blueblood.”

Pinkie's smile grows disturbingly large.

“Great! Leave the rest to me, Nonny.”

Anon can’t help but notice that nickname. There’s no time for him to question that while Blueblood is stuck behind this wall of candy.

“Yeah... Can you hurry?”

She gives him a nod and jumps face first into the candy wall. Anon watches in shock as Pinkie takes huge chunks out of the wall. Each bite seemingly bigger than the last. It’s almost like Anon is watching a car crash in slow motion. It’s disturbing, but he can’t look away. It happens so fast that he can’t even register the pace that Pinkie is eating the wall. It seems that only seconds pass as the wall quickly disappears. Before he knows it. Anon is looking at an empty room, a very fat looking Pinkie and a slobber-covered Blueblood that is shaking in place.

Oh god... Poor Blueblood.

“Um... I saved you?” Anon says unsure if Blueblood will be scarred for the rest of his life.

“I-I think I want to take a bath now.”

Anon nods. “Yeah... We’ll talk later about yesterday.”

Blueblood shakily gets up and walks to his bathroom. Anon looks down at Pinkie. She’s still really fat looking and for some reason, it looks cute. Anon’s never seen a fat pony before. Well, he could probably count Mrs.Cake, but she’s more chubby than fat. Anon walks over to Pinkie and picks her up under her armpits.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” Anon asks.

“Heh, sorry.”

Anon brings fat Pinkie into a hug. “It’s alright, but I think you should apologize to Blueblood.”

“I’ll do it later when he’s not busy.”

Anon sets Pinkie back down.

“So why are you here, Pinkie?”

“Well I just couldn’t wait after I got your message, so I decided to come early!”

“Alright, but what was that stuff about meeting someone?”

“It’s just as it sounds, Nonny. I want you to meet a very special pony and I know she’s excited to meet you too.”

“Do I know this pony?”

Pinkie shakes her head. “Nope! I’m also not going to tell you about her until later tonight. I have a reservation to make!”

“Reservation?”

“Of course, silly! I want us to go out for dinner.”

“Um... Alright? I don’t know why we can’t just have dinner here.”

“My friend is already excited. I’ll leave meeting the princesses for later.”

“Makes sense. So are you doing anything right now?”

“Don’t you listen, Nonny? I’m going to go make a reservation! I’ll see you later tonight.”

“Ok, Guess I’ll see you then?”

“Yup!”

Before Anon can say anything Pinkie tosses down a smoke bomb. When the smoke clears Anon is left alone in Blueblood’s room. Well, that just happened. Anon wants to find out what happened last night, but he thinks that giving Blueblood some time alone might be the best choice right now. Anon walks out of his room in search of what to do next. A sobering thought comes to him as he freezes in place. He still needs to talk to Luna, he was so wrapped up in this mystery that he almost forgot about what happened in their dreams. Anon doesn’t blame Luna for what happened, he’s just curious as to why Nightmare Moon is in her head.

Nightmare Moon... Anon can still faintly taste her. As his mind recollects on what happened, he finds that he’s less disgusted by the entire ordeal. Sure, it wasn’t what he expected by any means, considering the stories he’s heard. In fact, she was rather gentle, if a bit forceful. Something she said bothers him as well.

_“You should know that stories change depending on who’s telling them.”_

He knows for a fact that what she did to Luna was horrible, but is that really the whole story? Not only that, but there’s been something nagging at the back of his mind for awhile now. Nightmare’s dream... Anon remembers vividly what he felt when he placed his hand on her door. How lonely and sad she felt. That wasn’t Luna’s feelings. So is there more to this than meets the eye? Anon can feel his curiosity getting the better of him.

Would it be a bad idea to see her again? Anon can feel his heart rapidly racing at that thought. This may be his only chance to speak to Nightmare alone. Luna is awake, so Anon will probably go unnoticed in her head. Yet, that also means he’ll be on his own. If push comes to shove and shove turns to rape. He’s not too sure if he has the power to stop Nightmare Moon. After all, she’s a part of Luna, so she’s probably really good at controlling dreams.

Even after considering all of that. He still can’t shake this feeling inside of him. Maybe he was too quick to judge her? It’ll be a risk, but Anon can’t deny the excitement of a mystery on his hands. He just hopes it doesn’t cost him dearly.


	10. A different kind of friend

Anon can’t believe what he’s doing right now. He walked into his room a few minutes ago and went to sleep on his bed. For the past minute or so he’s been standing outside of Nightmare’s door. He can feel the conflict inside of him as he contemplates his life choices. There were some things he didn’t have control of and those things are the reason he’s so iffy around ponies. Yet this is different. If something bad happens here, there’s no one to blame, because he can choose to not do this.

He rests his hand against the door and calms himself enough to try and sense what is happening. It feels calm. Oddly enough, it’s as if she’s sleeping? How does that work? Anon’s never asked Luna about a dream within a dream before, but does is actually work differently for Nightmare? Is there perhaps another door around that contains her own dream? So what does that make what he experienced before? It could’ve been a memory. If that’s the case, then that seems to spur him on to actually speaking with her.

He can do this. Afterall, he does have a backup plan.

* * *

Blossom is sitting at Anon’s bedside as he sleeps. She honestly wasn’t expecting him to call for her, but she was true to her word that she would come if he called. So here she sits, unsure as to why she’s needed. All he told her was that he was going to dream walk and if he didn’t wake up in thirty minutes, she should get Luna as fast as she could. Blossom knows very little about dream walking, but she could hear how serious he was when he spoke.

So she sits and waits while facing the clock that hangs on the wall. This is going to be a long and boring wait. She feels her eyes drift over to Anon’s sleeping form. Hmmm... He wouldn’t mind if she got comfortable, right? A grin spreads on her face as she thrusts her wings down, lifts into the air and gently glides down onto the bed beside him.

She has to admit that she’s mostly doing this to see his reaction, but it’s rather nice cuddling up next to something warm as well. She uses a wing to grab a blanket and drapes it over the two of them. She gives a small yawn as she snuggles close. This is a nice break from all the paperwork.

* * *

Anon reaches for the handle of her door, with one last breath he opens it and takes a step inside. His vision is filled with darkness. He’s quick to summon a flashlight again, but what he notices is that the darkness is no longer as thick as it was before. His light is bright enough to cover a great distance and what he spots a bit ahead of him is the sleeping form of Nightmare Moon. It’s odd to see her sleeping kinda like a horse on its stomach. Anon gulps slightly as he makes his approach.

Once he feels he’s a safe distance from her does he stop and stand there. Nightmare Moon’s back is to him. He can see her slow and steady breaths as she rests. Seeing that his light is probably a bit too bright for this situation, he instead makes the area around him glow softly. Just enough light so he can clearly see Nightmare Moon, but not be blindingly bright. He walks around to the front of her. It’s odd how peaceful she looks while she’s sleeping.

“I’m surprised you came back.” She says as clear as day.

Anon jumps in shock as she opens her eyes and looks at him. The slits of her eyes seemingly contracting as they focus on him. Anon can’t look away as he stares into her piercing blue orbs. He shakes his head some and faces her again.

“I wanted to talk to you.”

He can see her raise a brow at him. She lifts her head from her forelegs so she can properly face him.

“Hmm?” She feels a grin spread across her lips. “You wish to play some more?”

Anon shivers at the thought of what she has in mind.

“N-No... I just wanted to get to know you. Maybe we got off on the wrong foot?”

Nightmare Moon starts to giggle and her giggle then turns into full blown laughter. Anon can only stand there and hope this doesn’t turn into a dark memory he’ll have to bury deep in his subconscious. She still titters some as she looks at Anon.

“You’re either the bravest or most stupid creature I’ve ever met.”

“Both, probably.” Anon admits.

A grin spreads over her face.

“What would you do to stop me if I decided to have my way with you?”

“Nothing. Before even coming here I could guess that you have a better control over dreams than I do. The only thing I have is a guard watching over me and I told her to get Luna if I didn’t wake up in thirty minutes.”

“Thirty minutes alone with me?” She slowly gets us, while also growing in size so she’s looming over Anon. “That’s enough time to do many _many_ things.”

He’s taking a huge risk, but it’s now or never.

“That’s true, but once Luna saves me from you... You’ll never see me again.”

It was so fast that Anon almost didn't see it, but he could’ve swore he saw worry on her face. The grin she had has long since vanished. Her size returns to normal as she continues to face Anon.

“What do you really want?” She asks with a sneer.

“To talk, as I said.”

“Do you think I believe that for a second? You’re up to something.”

Everything is going his way right now, Anon opens his arms wide feeling a bit more confident in this situation.

“Look around, Nightmare. I’m alone. Even you can sense that Luna is awake. It’s just you and me right now.” He drops his arms to his side. “The first time we met. I thought Luna was having a nightmare, that’s the reason I came in the first place. I wanted to help her and I was surprised when I found you.” What Anon is about to ask next could end in tears. “Are you lonely?”

He watches as Nightmare squints. She lowers her head so her horn is pointing directly at him. Anon backs up slowly as she starts poking it towards him.

“Get out.” She threatens.

“I just want to talk.”

He watches as her horn starts to glow.

“I’m not giving you a choice.”

Anon is shoved back and didn’t even realize she summoned a door to her world. He falls back into the room of doors as Nightmare’s door slams closed. Anon gets up and brushes himself off. Well, that could’ve been worse. Anon walks up to the door and places his hand on it. It seems he’s rustled her up a bit. He feels a triumphant smile on his face. Her resistance only makes his interest stronger. He walks away from her door in thought. He’ll be sure to visit again. Might as well take a page out of Celestia’s book. With enough pestering, she’ll come around or she’ll blast him into oblivion. He’s confident it’ll be the former.

Well, time for him to wake up.

* * *

Anon feels his eyes open. What he sees in front of him is a gray mare that’s asleep. He’s positive he told Blossom to watch over him, but it seems that at some point she decided it was best to sleep. Not only that, but she thought the best place was next to him. Anon reaches his hand up and pinches Blossom’s nose closed. It takes a few seconds before she jerks awake violently.

“W-Wha?!” She sits up and looks around in a daze.

“Thanks for watching me.” Anon deadpans as he too sits up so he can face her.

She smacks her lips some as she uses a hoof to rub her eyes.

“That was fast, wasn’t even ten minutes.” She states.

“How would you know?”

She rests her head on her pillow while keeping her eyes closed.

“I have an accurate internal clock, Anon. I would’ve woken up a few minutes before the set time. I can assure you that.”

Anon sits there for a few moments looking at her. There’s no reason for him to call her out on that. The fact is that he knows next to nothing about Blossom. How would he know if she’s telling the truth? Then again she is the captain of Luna’s knights. So it could be possible that she’s trained to wake up at a moment's notice.

“Well, thank you for helping me. Now if you don’t mind, I have some things I need to take care of.”

“I do mind.” She bites Anon’s shirt and drags him back into a laying position. “If you stay here then no one can blame me for sleeping. It’s part of the job after all.” She yawns. “If you leave then I’ll have to go back to all the boring paperwork in my office.”

“How is that my problem?”

“You know, I should report to Luna that you were up to something dangerous, but I won’t. That’s our little secret. Now if you lay in bed with me and let me rest a little, then I’ll consider us square.”

“Are you blackmailing me?”

“Blackmailing is such an ugly word. I prefer the word ~blackmailing~”

“You said the same word.” Anon deadpans

“Yeah, but I said it nicer the second time.” She wraps a bat wing over him. “Come on, just give me one hour of sleep. I’m not asking you to bend over backwards am I?”

Anon lets out a sigh of defeat. Blossom isn’t asking for much, but damn does he feel manipulated.

“Alright.” Anon gets comfortable as Blossom snuggles up close. “Just don’t get any funny ideas.”

Blossom chuckles. “Keep dreaming.”

* * *

“Everything is all set!” Pinkie says with a large smile.

“Are you sure this is alright?” Maud overlooks herself in a body length mirror. The dress she’s wearing is really frilly. She’s not used to wearing anything other than her normal dress. “I thought I was meeting your friend?”

“You want to look your best don’t you?”

“Why can’t I just wear my normal clothes?”

“Those old things? We’re in Canterlot, Maud! Let’s live a little!”

“I don’t know, Pinkie. I just think that maybe you’re going a little overboard. What if your friend isn’t dressed for the occasion?”

Pinkie’s eyes shoot open. “You’re right!”

“That’s good, I think we can still return the dre-”

“I need to tell Anon to wear a suit!”

Before Maud can say anything Pinkie tosses down a smoke bomb. Maud doesn’t even blink as the smoke clears and finds the room empty.

“Who would’ve thought a cutie mark could change a pony so much. Right, Boulder.” Maud looks over to the dresser where Boulder is. She raises a brow at him. “You’ve met Pinkie’s friend before?” Boulder just sits there, it’s a meaningful conversation. “I guess you’ll have to apologize.” Maud goes back to looking at herself in the mirror. “If it’s for the occasion...”

* * *

“Anon, pssst.”

Anon opens his eyes and is face to face with Pinkie. He can’t even find the strength to react anymore. He looks over to see that Blossom is still asleep, so he decides to keep quiet.

“What do you want, Pinkie?” Anon whispers.

“Can you wear a fancy suit for dinner tonight?”

“Suit? I thought I was meeting a friend?”

“Pleeeaaasse.” Pinkie gives him her best puppy eyes.

Anon lets out a quick snort.

“Fine, what time should I be ready?”

“Around eight.”

“Meet me at my store.”

Pinkie nods enthusiastically. “I’ll be there.” Pinkie then looks down at Blossom. “Who’s your friend?”

“Luna’s captain.”

“Why is sh-”

“Long story.”

Pinkie smiles at him. “Okie Dokie. See you tonight.”

Anon can feel Pinkie shimmy down his body and off the bed. Once he hears the door open and close does he finally relax.

“You’re rather popular with the mares.” Blossom says.

Anon looks over and sees Blossom has a smirk on her face while she rests.

“They’re friends.”

She chuckles. “Yeah, _friends_. You ever notice that all your friends are mares?”

“So what?”

Blossom shrugs. “Just a thought.”

“Go to sleep.”

“Whatever you say, Stud.”

* * *

Celestia is covered from head to hoof in icing. It took her some time to build that cake fort, but it was well worth the time spent when she got to demolish it, one savory bite at a time. She probably shouldn’t have started with the support beams first, but in the end, everything went well. She lets out a slight groan.

“I need to get cleaned up.”

Celestia gets up and walks over to her bathroom door. She feels a bit heavy but nothing she can’t digest in a few minutes. When she enters into the bathroom she’s surprised to see her nephew there. Not only that, but she notices that something’s wrong with him. He’s shaking in place while he sits in the bath. She walks over to his side.

“Blue?” Celestia is now standing behind him. “Is everything alright?”

“I’ve seen things, Aunty. Things I cannot unsee.” He says in his royal voice.

She notices that Blue is looking off into infinity. She’s quick to take him into her wings.

“Tell me all about it.”

He looks up to Celestia and gives a small nod.

“It started when I ran into you, Luna and Anon.”

* * *

“I just can’t decide.” Blueblood gives a snort as he walks towards the dining hall.

He was in his room the entire time contemplating what would be the best thing to wear. After all, it was a special occasion, yet he found that not a single thing he had fit the situation, so he decided to just forget the entire thing and go as is. While walking down the hall he notices his aunty carrying Anon and Luna in her magic as she walks towards him. Why aren’t they in the dining hall? Once they’re close enough he decides to ask.

“Did I miss dinner?”

Celestia looks down at Blueblood.

“No, Blue. It seems that Anon here didn’t hold his drink well. So I’m taking him to his room to change.”

“I told you to put me down.” Anon groans. “I get motion sick.”

“Regardless. We will be going to the fair soon. Would you care to join us?”

Blueblood’s eyes light up. “Would I?!”

Celestia smiles at him. “Very well. It shouldn’t take long for Anon to clean up.”

Blueblood is excited as he follows his aunty towards Anon’s room.

* * *

Anon, Luna, Blueblood and Celestia are now walking towards the fair.

“It’s been so long since I’ve been to a fair.” Celestia breaks the silence.

“Are they a regular thing here?” Anon asks.

“We hold one every year. It’s the most popular event in Equestria, ponies from all around gather to have fun.”

“What do they have there?”

“Many games and various unique foods that you can’t find anywhere else.”

Anon hopes that he can find some interesting meats. He is feeling a bit hungry after having thrown up all his food.

“Anyone objection to hitting the food stands first?” Anon asks.

“I’m a bit hungry.” Luna answers.

“So am I!” Blueblood adds.

Celestia can also agree to that. “Very well.”

Celestia walks off as the three of them follow after her. Once they’re at the fair Anon will admit that it looks rather nice. Reminds him of the fairs from his world, just with more livestock and fewer humans. Celestia is leading them past all the games and towards another area that has many tables about where ponies sit and eat. That’s normal and all but what he finds really interesting is a catbird creature sitting alone.

“What’s that?” Anon points at the creature.

Celestia looks over at what he’s pointing at.

“Hmm? Oh! That’s a griffin.”

“What the hell?” Anon whispers under his breath. He’s read about these creatures before but never has he actually seen one. “Can I touch it?”

“Anon, that griffin is just like you or me. It’s not an animal.”

“So... That’s a no?”

Celestia looks at him, then back at the griffin. “I guess that’s for you and her to decide.”

In Anon’s not drunk part of his mind, he’s contemplating how this is a good idea. The drunk part of his mind wants to pet something interesting. So, with no self-control, he walks over to the griffin in question. Luna tries to follow after him, but Celestia uses a wing to block her.

“Let him learn.”

Luna looks at her sister unsure if this is the right thing to do. She makes sure to keep a watchful eye just in case the worst should happen. Anon makes it over to the griffin without stumbling too much. He can tell that the griffin seems lost in her own thoughts.

“Hey.”

“Leave me alone.” The griffin responds without looking at him.

“Can I pet you.” Anon asks ignoring her previous words.

“Pet me? What are you dru-” She freezes as she looks up at Anon.

“Drunk? Yeah.”

“What in Tartarus are you?” She asks.

“Human. Only one on this planet.”

“Really? So you’re like an alien?”

Anon nods. “Yeah. I come from a different planet.”

She raises a skeptical brow. “Horse feathers.”

Anon shrugs. “It’s true, but that is neither here nor there. Can I pet you?”

The griffin leans away slightly. “Why do you want to pet me?”

“You look soft. I like soft things.” He leans down some and whispers into what he assumes is the griffin’s ear. “Don’t tell anyone, but Celestia is super soft. Like, really squishy. Luna’s surprisingly firm. I think it’s from all her years fighting. Not that I’m complaining.”

The griffin scoots away from Anon.

“Alright, crazy creature. If you don’t mind, I think I'll be going now.”

Anon quickly wraps his arms around the griffin and pulls her to his chest. Her back is pressed firmly against him.

“Just one pet?”

“No!”

“A quarter?”

“How does that even work?!”

“How about I just smell you?”

“I’ll give you till the count of threeEEE!!”

Anon took that moment to start scratching between her shoulder blades. The catbird calmed down and Anon noticed an odd purring noise coming from her. He reaches to the front of her and scratches under her chin and neck. Anon hates to admit it, but when he was younger he used to be a cat person. Dogs are superior, of course, but a cat is fine too.

“See? Was this so bad?” Anon asks.

“Alright, that’s far enough.”

Anon is quickly pulled out of his seat by Celestia. She shakes her head in disappointment at him.

“Really, Anon?”

He shrugs. “I regret nothing.”

“I’m really sorry about this, Ms...”

“Gilda.”

“Terribly sorry, Gilda. I hope my friend here didn’t cause you too much distress.”

The catbird seems to have regained her composure.

“Whatever, just leave me alone.”

“As you wish.”

As Celestia walks away with Anon and the others in tow, Anon looks back to see the catbird looking at him in confusion. He smiles and waves at her, to which she quickly gives him a scowl and turns away.

“She was nice.” Anon says.

“Did you really have to grab her like that?” Luna asks.

“She looked like she needed a hug.”

“Well, since we’re here. Let’s get something to eat.” Celestia adds.

“Great!” Luna cheers as she runs over to a stand. “Three of your chocolate hayburgers.”

Blueblood doesn’t know what’s going on, but he does know that he’s hungry and chocolate hayburgers sounds interesting enough.

* * *

Luna is currently vomiting into a trash can. Anon patting her on her withers.

“Just let it out.”

“Ugh... I think those hayburgers weren’t a smart cho-” She once again puts her head into the trash. Once she’s is done, Luna sits beside the trash can breathing heavily. “I-I think I’m done.”

Celestia shakes her head as she looks down to her nephew.

“Do you mind watching your aunt for a bit?”

Blueblood still has more than enough food he wants to eat. He did miss dinner after all.

“I don’t mind.”

“Thank you. Anon and I will be back.”

Celestia grabs Anon’s hand with her magic and pulls him away. Blueblood watches them leave for a few minutes before he turns to his various sweets and foods before him. There’s so much for him to eat, he doesn’t know which to choose. He weighs his options and decides to save the cotton candy for last.

“I do love cotton candy, so I’ll save that for tonight.” He says with a smile as he sets the candy off to the side.

“H-How would you like a room full of it?” Luna asks in her drunk and post vomit stupor.

“A room full!?”

That’s got Blue’s attention.

She nods. “L-Let me see if I can do this.”

She shakily gets up from her seat next to the can and walks over to Blueblood’s table. Taking her seat next to him, she readies herself to use a spell she once used when she was a filly. It doesn’t take more than a second for her to cast her magic on the candy and look at Blueblood.

“I-If you wait, it should get rather large... J-Just don’t forget to eat it, ok? The magic will stop its growth when you start eating it.”

He nods enthusiastically. “I won’t forget, Aunty!”

Luna has a small smile on her face as she rests her head on the table.

“I’m just going to rest for a bit. Wake me up when my sister comes back.”

“You can count on me.”

Luna gives him one nod before she closes her eyes. A few minutes should help settle her stomach.

* * *

“My sister used growth magic on your candy?”

He nods then looks a bit embarrassed. “I brought the candy home and was so tired I fell asleep. Anon found me and...” His eyes get a far off look. “Well, he saved me...”

“So what’s the matter?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Celestia decides not to push him.

“Do you know what happened after Anon and I left?”

Blueblood shrugs. “I don’t know. You two came back after a while, but I was so full and Luna was still sick, so we came back to the castle.”

“I see.” Celestia wonders what could’ve happened. However, her thoughts soon fade as she notices that Blue still has some candy behind his ears. She smiles a bit as she enters the bath next to him. “Let me help clean you up.”

He smiles at her. “Thank you, aunty.”

“No problem, Blue.”


	11. Things never change

Anon can’t stand to be in this bed with Blossom anymore. Her fur is starting to make him sweat and he really needs to use the bathroom. Yet, whenever he tries to pull away she lets out a grunt and her face scrunches up a bit. At this point, he has the feeling she’s not even asleep.

“Blossom I gotta use the bathroom.”

“Can’t you just hold it a little longer?”

“No.”

“ _Fine._ ”

Blossom removes her weird leathery wings from Anon so he can get out of bed. Anon stretches a little and trudges to the bathroom. He’s quick to do his business and returns to his room. Blossom is still in bed and he wonders if he can sneak out before she notices anything. Anon silently turns towards the door an-

“Get back here, it’s starting to get cold.” Blossom breaks the silence.

“Seriously? I got other things I can do.”

“Do you want me to tell Luna about what you did?”

Anon isn’t going to let her hold this over him. It’s time to challenge this pony.

“You know what. Yeah. Go ahead and tell her.”

Blossom sits up and looks at Anon.

“I’ll do it.”

“Go ahead.”

“I’m serious.”

“I’m waiting.”

“I’ll get up right now.”

“Need any help?”

They lock eyes and have a showdown with one another. Eventually, Blossom lets out a sigh.

“You caught me. I’m too tired.”

“That’s what I thought. Enjoy the bed, I’ve got something I need to do.”

“What is that exactly?”

“I need to talk to Luna.”

“Alright. She’s right outside the door, just so you know.”

“Wha-”

A knock fills the room. Anon looks at the door, then at Blossom, then back at the door. She gives him a wink as she tosses the covers over herself. Damn that bat pony and her supernatural ability to hear things. Anon walks over to the door and answers it. Just as Blossom said, Luna is standing right there before him. She looks rather nervous too.

“Anon, It’s good that you’re here. Do you mind if I come in?”

Anon looks at his bed, then back at Luna.

“Sure?”

Luna gives him a small nod and walks into the room. Anon closes the door behind her and watches as she stops in the middle of the room and turns to face him.

“Anon I’ve come to talk about what happened in our dreams.”

Anon can see the blankets on his bed shift slightly out of the corner of his eye. He really doesn’t want to talk about this while Blossom is here. He knows for a fact that Luna’s never told anyone about Nightmare Moon. So what would Blossom think if she found out about something like that?

“Um... It’s fine. Seriously, no reason to bring it up.”

Luna’s eyes start to glisten.

“Anon. I must tell you. I have to explain so that you may understand.”

Anon walks up to Luna. “I’m alright, Luna. What happened doesn’t matter.”

Luna stamps her hoof.

“It does matter! How dare that mare lay her disgusting hooves on you!”

Anon can see the bed shift again.

“Luna. I think we should talk about this later.”

“Nay, I must say what I feel. This may be the only time I have.”

Oh no. Anon can’t let this happen. He’s far more worried over what ponies will think of Luna if something like this were to get out.

“I swear that Nightm-” Luna tries to continue but feels her brain stop working.

What is happening?! Luna’s eyes are wide as she notices that Anon’s face is a lot closer to her than she’s used to. Not only that, but she feels an odd sensation on her lips. Is that? Her mind keeps processing what is happening. Anon is kissing her. Her wings flared out as this finally hits her. Yet even though she cannot contain her shock, she can’t move away either.

He feels so soft. Due to his lack of fur, she can feel his skin and lips against hers. Her heart is rapidly racing. What does she do? Why is he doing this? Luna’s face is covered in a blush. She, she doesn’t feel as if what is happening is wrong. She likes this. She likes kissing Anon. The realisation hits her. Does she have feelings for him? That must be what it is, right?

Anon pulls away from his kiss with Luna. It was drastic, but it seems to have worked. Luna is just standing there speechless as she looks at Anon.

“Um...” Anon doesn’t know what to say.

“A-Anon... Do you like us?” Luna asks.

Anon gulps hard. Oh boy, this isn’t what he wanted, but he’ll have to live with it.

“I think you’re a fine mare, Luna. So, don’t worry too much about what happened in our dreams.” Luna looks stunned as she backs up slightly and rests her rump on the edge of Anon’s bed. “Are you alright?”

Anon walks up to Luna but doesn’t expect what happens next. Luna wraps her hooves around his neck and pulls him into another kiss. Anon is shocked as she falls onto the bed while holding him, so now he’s on top of her as they make out. Luna’s eyes are closed and Anon looks over to see the lump on his bed try to squirm away to the edge. Luna finally pulls away from the kiss, a large smile, and blush on her face.

“I think you are a fine man as well, Anon.” Anon can feel something damp around his midsection, but he dares not look down. “Would you care to help a mare in need?”

Oh no. He can’t do this! Not to mention Blossom is literally inches away from them!

“Luna, don’t you think this is going a bit fast?”

“Nonsense. Back in my day, it was normal to court males that took your interest.” She leans up and gives him a quick peck on the lips. “Do you wish for me to be on top?”

Luna rolls over and Anon feels his back press against Blossom as he pushes her off the edge. Thankfully, Luna didn’t notice the noise Blossom made. Now Anon is on his back as Luna sits on his lap.

“Um... Don’t you want to go out on a date first?”

“What is a date?” Luna looks at him confused.

“Well, it’s when two ponies go and have dinner. Talk about what each one does and get to know each other.”

Luna smiles as she leans closer to Anon.

“I know everything about you.”

Damn, she has him there. Why did he share memories with her? It seriously makes writing chapters harder, trying to keep track of what she does and does not know. Why did I think that was a good idea? Anyways. Anon is stumped. He has no idea what he’s going to do to get out of this. Then something comes to mind.

“What about Celestia?”

Luna raises a brow. “What about her?”

“Well... What if she’s interested as well? I can’t just have two sister fighting.”

Luna smiles at Anon. “You’re implying that my sister has a chance.”

“I don’t want to hurt either of you. I also don’t want you two fighting.”

Luna sits up some, while still on Anon’s lap and takes a second to think.

“Hmm...”

Luna’s horn lights up and before he can register what is happening. Anon finds Celestia at their bedside. Celestia looks flabbergasted as she looks around the room and then finds her eyes laying on Luna and me.

“What is going on here?!” Celestia asks with a red face.

“Anon said that in order to mate with me he wants to ensure that we do not fight over him. So I will ask, are you interested in Anon?”

Celestia looks at Anon, then back at Luna before she looks to the floor and rubs a hoof over one of her legs.

“Maybe.” Celestia whispers.

“Yes or no, Sister.”

Celestia lets out a snort.

“Fine! I do like him, alright, can I go now?!”

Luna nods at that. Now she has the truth.

“Leaving is not necessary. How would you like to share?”

“S-Share?” Both Anon and Celestia ask.

Luna nods. “We are sisters after all. Why not show Anon what two immortals know?” She looks back down at Anon. “You will never forget what will happen. We’ve had more than enough practice through the ages. Experience like this isn’t something you’ll find anywhere else.”

“Um...” Anon doesn’t know what to say.

“Are you alright with this, Anon.” Celestia asks him.

“Umm...”

“Of course he is, Sister! He’s just too embarrassed to ask.”

Celestia nods. “Well, if he isn’t against it. I guess I’m alright with sharing.”

Celestia walks over to the bed, nervousness clearly on her face as she looks down at Anon. She closes her eyes and quickly leans in to kiss him. Why is this happening to Anon? All he wanted to do what keep Luna’s Nightmare Moon thing a secret and now he’s going to have his pelvis broken by two alicorn goddesses. Celestia’s nervousness seems to die away as she leans harder into the kiss. She pulls away panting a storm.

“I’ve been wanting this for a long time, Anon. Everything I’ve done, I’ve done it for you.”

What is happening?! Suddenly the door to Anon’s room is thrown open. Standing at the entrance is a pink Alicorn.

“My love magic is informing me that a threesome is happening!” Cadance says with glee.

“Who the hell are you?!” Anon shouts.

“This is my niece Cadance.” Celestia says.

“What is she doing here?!”

“She’s the alicorn of love.”

“Can I join?” Cadance asks with a creepily large smile.

Luna and Celestia look at each other before they shrug.

“It’s fine with us.” Luna states.

“Yay!” Cadance jumps over and lands onto the bed as well.

“Not again.” A voice calls out.

Anon looks over and finds Shining Armor standing at the door as well.

“Thank god you’re here!” Anon shouts. “Get this crazy pink alicorn out of here!”

“Hey!” Shining looks offended. “She’s my wife! Well, actually, she’s not. All of Sarcastic's stories take place around season two. Most people don’t even realise that. So she’s my _soon_ to be wife! Plus, there’s going to be an epic battle where Anon fights Chrysalis!” Shining pulls out a scroll and quill. “Yeah, that sounds totally badass. Maybe we can even change Anon’s name to Navarone? No one has that name, right?”

Anon is so confused and now he has three alicorns that want to death him by snu snu. If you would’ve asked him if he was one day going to die by having his pelvis broken by three alicorn horses, he would’ve probably agreed with you. Now look at him, he’s living the dream, that’s also a nightmare. Wait! Nightmare! She’s the only pony that can possibly save him! She hates him and something-something enemy is a friend!

Anon raises his hand and snaps his fingers before anypony notices. Anon is already in Nightmare’s world.

“Nightmare! Nightmare I need you!”

Nightmare appears before Anon.

“What do you want?”

“Alicorns want to snu snu!”

“Oh... That... Yeah, when alicorns get a mate they tend to release all the years of sexual frustration at one time. So, like. Luna has a thousand years since she was on the moon, plus some change since she’s returned. Then you have Celestia. She’s going on a two thousand year dry spell. Faust help you.”

“Hide me!” Anon begs.

Nightmare’s face lights up in a blush.

“Why would I help you?! It’s not that I like you or anything!” She’s quick to summon a door and toss Anon out. Once he’s gone does she let out a sigh. “Why can’t I just tell him how I feel?”

* * *

Anon wakes up screaming. His breaths are heavily labored. He looks around in panic and finds his room is empty.

“What’s your problem?”

Anon quickly looks over to find Blossom in bed with him. He lets out a sigh of relief. So, that was all a dream? Anon falls onto his back and chuckles a bit. Wow, that was really weird.

“Just had a crazy dream.”

“Seems like it was a nightmare, seeing as you kinda woke up screaming.”

“I guess.”

“Whatever. We still have a few hours. Get some rest.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Blossom wraps her wings around Anon as they snuggle close. What Anon doesn’t see is the devious human standing beside his bed.

“Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?” He whispers, chuckling as he fades away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An April fools chapter


	12. Complications

“Anon can you come here?!” Bonbon calls out.

Bonbon sits there for a moment, but Anon doesn’t answer, which is odd because he’s rather quick to reply. Maybe he’s busy with a customer? She gets up from her seat and walks over to the doors that lead into the main room. When she pokes her head out, she finds something that causes her concern. Lyra is giving a death glare to a griffon while the griffin returns the glare equally.

“If you call Anon an ‘it’ one more time I’ll shove our candy so far up your fl-”

“Whoa!” Bonbon quickly comes out and is standing beside Lyra. “What seems to be the problem?”

Lyra doesn’t turn her gaze away from the griffin.

“I don’t know. This griffin came in asking for Anon.”

“Oh?” Bonbon looks over at the griffin. “Are you a friend of his?”

“Friend?!” The griffin turns her attention to Bonbon. “Like I'd be friends with that nest robber!”

Bonbon doesn’t know what a _nest robber_ is but it doesn’t sound very nice.

“Then why do you want to see him?”

“When I find him I’m going to pound his face!”

Lyra gives out a growl as her eyes squint a bit more. The griffin returns her death gaze to Lyra. Bonbon doesn’t know what’s going on, but she does know that she’s no longer in a kind and understanding mood. She’s not going to let anypony come into her shop and start making threats.

“I’m going to kindly ask you to leave.” Bonbon says trying to keep her voice calm.

“What are you going to do if I don’t leave?” The griffin challenges.

Bonbon now feels her gaze mimic the one Lyra is giving the griffin. So this griffin wants to play hard ball? Bonbon is fine with that.

“Then Lyra and I are going to jump over this counter and beat the tar out of you. Trust me, we may not look it, but we can get rough.”

There’s a small showdown of sorts as the three of them face off. It feels like an eternity passes, but eventually, the griffin clicks her beak in frustration.

“Mark my words, I’m going to find _it_ and when I do it’s going to pay for what it did.”

That’s all that’s said as she walks out of the store. Bonbon lets out a breath she wasn’t aware she was holding. It’s been a long time since she’s gotten into a fight and while she would’ve backed her words up, it was something she wanted to avoid. Getting into a hoof fight in the store would’ve been problematic in the long run. Bonbon looks over at Lyra and can see that the fur on her back is still on edge.

“What do you think that was all about?” Bonbon asks.

“I have no idea.”

“Do you think it has something to do with Anon being drunk last night?”

Lyra looks over at Bonbon and gives her a nod.

“Yeah, I think so. We should tell Anon.”

Bonbon’s mind clicks back to why she even came to the storefront in the first place.

“Where is Anon?”

“Oh!” Lyra knew she forgot to tell Bonbon about Anon taking a break. “He was a bit flustered, so I told him to get some fresh air. He hasn’t came back, so I can only guess that he was dragged off to the castle.”

That makes sense. He probably got pulled off by the princess or maybe even Blueblood.

“I’ll go to the castle and find Anon. Until then I need you to take care of the store.”

“Easily done.”

“Alright.” Bonbon gives Lyra a peck on the cheek and that seems to calm her down. “I’ll be back soon.”

Bonbon walks around the counter and towards the front door. If she’s quick enough she can get to the castle in a few minutes. Yet what Bonbon didn’t see as she walked towards the castle was the shadow that hung over her building.

“I’ll find you.” Gilda says as she watches the pony, taking to the sky so she could follow.

* * *

“Thanks, Stud. I feel like a new mare.” Blossom compliments Anon as she stretches in his room.

“Don’t expect me to do this all the time.”

“It’s only fair to scratch my back when I scratch yours.”

“So I’ll owe you if my life is ever in danger?”

She shakes her head. “Of course not. Something like that is out of your control, but when you ask me to do something in secrecy, then yes, you owe me.”

“I’ll be sure to ask less of you.”

Blossom rolls her eyes at the seriousness in his tone, she walks over to Anon who is sitting on his bed to catch his attention.

“Listen, I’m not going to make you do something you’d be totally uncomfortable with. That’d go against everything I stand for as a captain.” She makes sure to look Anon in the eyes the entire time. “I’ve known Luna for centuries. I know how much she cares about you, so I would never break the trust she has placed on me when it comes to protecting you. If you need something, anything, don’t hesitate to ask me, but every so often I’ll ask for something in return. That’s what friends do and I want us to be friends. If we can’t trust one another, then how can I protect you when the time comes?”

Anon keeps eye contact with Blossom for awhile. He looks away with a sigh as he digests everything she just laid on him. He hates this pony for all the wrong reasons. He knows he can trust her. She gives off the same vibe that he gets when he’s around Celestia and Luna. A pony far older and wiser than they let on. Everything she said is correct. She’s known Luna far longer than him and Luna herself trusted Blossom to watch over him. To question her is to question Luna and Anon has a lot of trust in Luna.

“Friends?”

Blossom nods. “There is no reason for us not to be. If there is, then tell me why.”

He gives a small chuckle, he doesn’t have a good reason. “I guess I have no reason. We’ll see how well of a friend you can be.”

She smiles at him. “I’m happy to hear that.”

Anon can already feel himself becoming uncomfortable. It’s always weird making friends, right? Maybe it’s just him.

“So... What now?”

“Do you need help with anything else?”

“Nothing I can think of.”

“I guess I can head on back to my office.” She lets out a sigh. “Plenty of paperwork is waiting for me.”

Anon isn’t too sure why, but perhaps being a bit more helpful will be beneficial to this new friendship?

“Do you want some help?”

She looks at Anon with surprise. “Help?”

He nods. “I’ve been with Celestia during day court before. I’m sure I can handle a little paperwork. We’re friends after all, right?”

“I think I’m going to like this relationship.”

“Yeah, just remember that you’ll owe _me_ this time.”

Blossom gets a smirk on her face. “Hmm? Oh, I see how it is.”

“See how what is?”

Her smirk never leaves as she approaches Anon, placing a hoof on each leg and moves higher so they’re face to face.

“I wonder what depraved things you have in mind? I’m a mare after all and I’m not blind to the fact that you’re a male that has certain needs.”

Anon can’t help the snort that comes out of him. He can easily tell that Blossom is messing with him.

“You sure have a large ego.”

“I bet that’s not the only thing that’s large in this room.”

Anon stands up as Blossom falls back onto her four hooves. Blossom can’t contain herself anymore as she starts to laugh. Anon can only shake his head at her odd sense of humor. It really differs from what he’s used to. Celestia and Luna are polar opposites but neither of them are so raunchy. Not that he’s a prude or anything, it’s just really weird for him, considering the entire situation.

“Alright, you’ve had your fun. Now am I going to help you or should I just leave?”

Blossom flies up and slaps Anon on the back.

“You don’t have to be so serious all the time. I’m just messing with you.”

“How would you like it if I messed with you?”

“Give it your best sho-”

Anon wraps his arms around Blossom and pulls her to his chest. He moves his right hand to her belly and start to rub it vigorously. Blossom doesn’t know what is happening right now, but she can’t even feel her brain work anymore as she feels Anon’s fingers dig into her stomach. It feels so good that she’s lost all of her will to fight or think. Anon smiles in triumph as he feels Blossom melt into his arms. Once he’s sure she’s nice and slack, he opens his arms wide and drops her onto the floor.

“Ouch!” She looks up at him with a frown. “You jerk! Why’d you drop me?”

“I’m just messing with you, Blossom.”

Blossom gets up and smooths out her fur a bit.

“Alright, we’re even.” She says. “Now, if you’ll follow me, we can get to my office.”

Blossom points for Anon to walk towards the door to his room. He does so, but quickly trips and hits the ground. He lets out a groan as he looks back to see Blossom has her hoof out.

“Whoops!” She walks past him. “Actually, _now_ we’re even.”

Anon picks himself off the floor and dusts himself off.

“Of course you realize, this means war.”

Blossom looks over her withers at him with a large smile on her face.

“Bring it on, Stud.”

* * *

“There we are! All clean.”

Celestia rests the wet towel she used on Blueblood on the floor as she drapes a dry one on his neck so that he could dry his mane.

“Thank you for helping me.”

“You know I don’t mind, Blue.” Celestia gets up and moves the dirty towels to a hamper. “Do you have anything special planned today?”

Blueblood shakes his head.

“No. I was actually thinking about eating.”

Blue is right. It is rather late, around lunch time as a matter of fact.

“I am a bit parched. Do you mind if I join?”

“Of course not.”

“I wonder if Anon is still around?” Celestia rubs a hoof against her chin but returns her gaze to Blueblood. “He’s probably back at work. Let’s not wait any longer.”

Blueblood has a large smile on his face as Celestia and him walk out of the bathroom and towards the dining hall.

* * *

“It seems that this pony hasn’t paid his fine.” Anon leans over to show Blossom the paperwork.

“Yeah, that pony has been dodging us for awhile now. Any suggestions?”

“Do ponies do taxes?” She nods. “Remove the amount from his tax returns this year.”

“I’ll be sure to send the instructions to the number crunchers upstairs.”

Anon writes a note on how they’ve planned to deal with this pony, staples it together and places it into the ‘done’ pile. He reaches over and grabs another paper and looks it over. He feels his brow raise as he reads the details.

“Princess Luna, this is my third request to watch the human. I know you said that the elements are taking care of him, but I think that having more eyes isn’t a bad idea.”

The paper in Anon’s hand is snatched away in an instant. When he looks up at Blossom he notices that her face is looking a bit more serious. Not that he did anything wrong, but as if her thoughts were taken to some other time.

“What’s that about, Blossom?” Anon asks.

Blossom looks down at the letter she took. It’s been awhile since she last read it. She can remember herself writing it a year or so ago. Wow, to think it’s been so long?

“This was my request to watch over you when you first came to Equestria.” She lays the paper down on the table. “I was denied multiple times, but I still tried. I just had an odd feeling about those days.” She looks up at the ceiling. “I guess all that stuff is in the past now, right?”

“I guess.” Anon doesn’t agree with that statement, he relives his past every waking moment, but there’s no reason to put a damper on the mood. “So you wanted to watch over me, even back then?”

“Something like that.”

“You wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to destroy the planet, right?”

She chuckles. “I guess that would be accurate.” Blossom looks over all the paperwork that remains, Anon really did help her take a large chunk out of her work. “How about we take a break?”

Anon stretches in place. “Yeah, I can use a breather.”

“Wanna head to the dining hall and get something to eat?”

“Sure.”

Blossom smiles a bit more as she gets up from her seat.

“Then what are we waiting for?”

* * *

“I have to say that despite this morning, I had a great time at the fair.” Blueblood says.

Celestia can’t help but agree. “So did I. It’s rare for us to go out.”

“Yeah, I think we should go see the Wonderbolts this year.”

That’s a great idea! Celestia knows that Anon did enjoy the first time they went there.

“I’m sure Anon would be happy to come.”

Celestia is so focused with Blueblood that she doesn’t see the pony that is walking towards her. Twilight is absorbed in the book she’s reading, so much so that she bumps into Celestia and falls onto her flank. She’s quick to get up.

“I’m so sorry abou-” Twilight notices who she just bumped into. “Princess! Sorry about that. I was just reading this book and I didn’t see you.”

“No worries, Twilight. I see that you’re back in the castle. What are you up to right now?”

“Not much, I was going to the library to grab a few books.”

“Where’s Spike?”

“My mother just wouldn’t let him go. He’ll be back a little later.”

Well, since she’s alone Celestia thinks it would be fine to invite her for lunch.

“Would you care to join Blue and I for lunch?”

“Of course!” Twilight is ecstatic about the idea of eating with the Princess.

“Can we eat in the garden?” Blueblood asks.

“It is a beautiful day today.” Celestia remarks. “Sure. I’ll inform th-”

“No need!” Twilight speaks with cheer. “I’ll head on over and tell the cook to make us something!”

“Are you sure, I can use magic to sen-”

“Don’t worry about it, Princess. I’ll be quick.”

It seems a bit unnecessary for Twilight to go out of her way just to give somepony an order. However, as Celestia looks at her student who is giving her that enthusiastic look, she knows that she can’t deny her such a simple task.

“Very well. Blue and I will be waiting for you.”

“I won’t take long!” Twilight says as she gallops towards the dining hall.

Celestia has a weird pit in her stomach as she watches Twilight run off, a nagging thought in the back of her head. It’s probably just her imagination.

* * *

“So, what do you eat?” Anon asks as Blossom and him take a seat.

“Meat.” She says nonchalantly.

“Really?”

Blossom smiles at him as she opens her mouth for Anon to see, extends her tongue and licks her large canines. Hell, if anything Anon could label them as fangs, which kinda fits the whole bat pony thing. She closes her mouth and Anon can see the bottom part of her fangs sticking out. Now that makes sense, damn those things are pretty big.

“Really.” Blossom ends. “I hope it doesn’t bother you.”

“You probably know I eat meat too. So you’re in good company as far as I’m concerned.” Anon says feeling a bit more at ease with Blossom.

“So what would you like to eat?”

Anon shrugs. “They got steak?”

“From every creature you could think. I’d suggest the manticore.”

Anon rubs his chin in thought.

“I could go for something mythical.”

Blossom nods and looks over at a waiter that is standing beside them. Anon flinches some, as he didn’t even hear the pony come in.

“Two manticore steaks.” Blossom informs the waiter.

He nods. “How would you like it cooked?”

“Raw.” She then looks at Anon. “You?”

“Medium rare, thanks.”

“Fine choice.” The waiter says before he leaves the two of them alone.

“So, Blossom. How long have you been working for Luna?”

“Ah, that. Well, I’ve been with her for five hundred years, not counting the moon thing.”

“Wow... So, are you two close?”

“Before, we were. Then...” She looks off into the distance. “Then Nightmare Moon happened.” Blossom shakes her head some. “We’ve only talked in passing when she came back.” She chuckles some. “Since she’s been spending so much time around you, she’s taken the time to come and speak with me. I can see how different she is with you around.”

“Was it really that bad?”

Blossom nods. “Yeah. Most days she would just stay in her room. I think it was after I sent a few requests about your appearance did she decide to see you. I’m glad you two became friends. It’s good to see her happy again.”

Anon doesn’t know what to say. Sure he knew Luna was a bit of a recluse like him, but to think it was to the point where she didn’t even talk to her captain? She must’ve felt really guilty over the Nightmare thing.

“I’m happy that she’s happy.” Anon says. “She’s a great friend.”

“I’m glad to hear tha-” Blossom quickly turns her head to the door as her ears rotate in place some. “Anon, I need you to listen to me closely.”

“What’s the matter?”

Something isn’t right here. Anon can tell that Blossom is serious right now. It’s enough to make Anon feel panic rising from within himself.

“Keep calm.” Blossom speaks softly, never looking away from the door “Get under the table.”

Anon doesn't know what’s happening, but he does as Blossom says and gets under the table. He then feels her hooves wrap behind his head as she pulls him to her belly.

“Blossom, what are you d-”

“Shhh!”

Anon notices her wings wrapping around him until most of his body is covered, since her wings are smaller, she can’t cover him completely. Anon can’t see anything other than the fur on Blossom’s belly. What the hell is going on right now? His thoughts fall silent as he hears the door to the dining hall open and the sound of hooves making their way inside. Anon feels Blossom’s grip on him tighten. Who could possibly put Blossom on edge like this?

“Oh!? I wasn’t expecting anypony to be here.”

Anon freezes in place. No... No this can’t be happening. There’s no mistaking it. That’s Twilight’s voice. Blossom keeps her eyes locked on Twilight and tightens her grip on Anon as he starts to shake slightly. It does little to comfort him, but knowing Anon is hidden lets Blossom know that she’s in control of this situation. She just needs to keep him safe and Twilight away.

“What do you want, Twilight?” Blossom asks.

“You know my name?”

Blossom has read the reports. She even had a lunar knight hidden during the punishment in Ponyville to ensure that Luna was taken care of by one of her own. She knows practically everything about Twilight. Her brother, her parents and even her friends. She made sure to educate herself on what transpired and everything else in between.

“I’m Luna’s captain. Of course I know your name.”

Twilight looks at Blossom closely. Wait a second, this is a thestral! Twilight has never seen a thestral this up close before.

“Oh, wow. Um, do you mind if I asked you a few questions?” Twilight tries to approach, but as soon as she took a step forward she noticed the captain’s expression harden some. “Is everything alright?”

“Fine. I’m just on lunch is all.” Blossom makes sure to keep her voice calm and even puts on a fake smile.

As soon as Twilight tried taking a step toward Blossom, she felt Anon try to jerk away from her grasp, but she held him firm. Anon is now violently shaking as she keeps a firm grip on him with her wings. She won’t be able to keep him contained for long, she needs to find a way to get this pony out of here before Anon has a full blown panic attack. The waiter pony comes in at this moment and places the two plates down.

Blossom can see Twilight getting white in the face as she looks at the meat. This is it, this is what Blossom has been waiting for.

“Y-You eat meat?” Twilight’s starting to turn green as she looks at the raw meat.

“I do.”

Blossom removes her hooves from Anon and uses them to pick up her steak as she tears a chunk out of her meal. Twilight quickly uses a hoof to stop herself from barfing all over the place. Blossom makes sure that some of the blood runs down her chin and lands onto her coat. The entire scene is very graphic and starting to be too much for Twilight to handle.

“M-Maybe we can talk some other time?” Twilight forces out.

“Sure.”

Twilight is quick to place an order with the waiter and run out into the hall. Blossom is smiling a bit as the door slams closed behind the mare. She makes sure to extend her hearing for a bit to ensure that Twilight was gone. Once the coast is clear, Blossom looks down to see Anon pressed firmly against her belly. He is breathing heavily, eyes unfocused and shaking like a newborn foal.

“See something you like?” Blossom jokes.

Anon doesn’t respond, instead she feels him wrap his arms around her waist as he holds her tight. Blossom feels a smile on her face as she wraps him in an embrace, leaning down and nuzzling him a bit.

“It’s alright.” She whispers.

This isn’t the first time Blossom has dealt with someone like this. She feels her heart wince slightly at an old memory. She closes her eyes as she holds onto Anon a little tighter. No, she’ll keep her promise, she won’t let what happened happen, not again.


	13. Broken

Twilight is sitting next to Celestia and Blueblood as the three of them wait for their meals to arrive. Even though she should be ecstatic about eating with the princess, her thoughts are currently somewhere else. She can’t fight the feeling that something major transpired when she was in the dining hall. There’s a pain inside of her that she can’t explain. Why does she feel like this? There’s no logical reason for her to feel the way she does. Sure she didn’t get to talk to the thestral that was eating but it wasn’t the end of the world by any means. Yet there’s a sense of regret and failure. Perhaps with her studies on gaining Anon’s forgiveness, she’s also become a bit worrisome over trivial things?

It’s a thought, but it does little to help.

“Twilight?”

Twilight flinched slightly as she feels something rest of her withers. She looks over to see the princess giving her a look of concern. Looks like the princess can read her as easily as any open book.

“Yes?”

“You seem a bit lost in thought. Is something the matter?”

Twilight shakes her head. “No, I just feel odd is all.”

Celestia looks at Twilight a bit before accepting her answer. If her student doesn’t want to talk about it then she can’t force her. It’s not like Twilight is the only one feeling odd today. That small feeling inside of Celestia that she felt before is now in full force. It’s a pressure inside of her that she cannot put her hoof on. Should she check to see if Anon is alright? Usually, when she gets an odd feeling it’s related to Anon, but she knows that Luna’s captain is protecting him. She wouldn’t want to undermine her sister’s judgment on the matter. Still, maybe just a quick check couldn’t hurt?

Celestia lights her horn slightly and connects with Anon. She instantly doubles over and covers her mouth with a hoof.

“Princess!” Twilight shouts as she notices the Princess sudden change.

Celestia’s eyes are unfocused as she takes a large hit to her psyche. She can feel her body shaking and a great amount of panic and danger filling her. Not to mention she feels like throwing up everything she’s ever ate. Her heart hurts so much and her body is on fire. She quickly breaks the connection and tries her best to bury what she feels. It takes her but a moment to return to her normal position and apply her princess mask to hide away the pain. This wouldn’t be the first time she needed to act normal in a time of emergency. Everything about her has returned to her normal serene look.

“Aunty?” Blueblood looks afraid.

Celestia looks at him with a gentle smile.

“Sorry about that, I haven’t been feeling well.” Celestia says. “Just a bit of a tummy ache.”

Blueblood isn’t too sure about that, but he accepts what his aunt says anyways. Twilight is looking at Celestia still alarmed. Whatever happened to her had to be serious to make the princess double over like that. She can’t help but be concerned about her mentors wellbeing.

“Do you need to see the doctor?”

Celestia shakes her head. “I’m fine.” She then stands up. “I’m sorry to do this, but I just remembered I have to check on a few things.”

Blueblood and Twilight are confused by this sudden change.

“Are you sure it can’t wait?” Twilight asks.

Celestia shakes her head. “Sadly, it cannot.” Celestia rests a hoof on Blue’s mane. “We’ll do this again, so don’t worry. I just need to check something.”

Blueblood understands and gives a nod.

“Do you need any help?” Twilight asks.

“There’s no need, Twilight. I’m sure you and Blue can have a nice meal together. The two of you rarely talk.”

Twilight looks over at Blueblood. It’s true, Twilight spent most of her time learning when she was a filly, so Blueblood and she have never really gotten to know one another. Even after that she heard a few things from Rarity that makes her hesitant to get to know him. Yet, why would the princess treat him so well if he is as bad as Rarity says? Perhaps this is a test? To see if Twilight is ready to face Anon? Alright, Twilight won’t judge, she’ll get to know Blueblood and make her own decision.

“Alright.” She agrees.

Celestia nods at that. “That’s good to hear. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

Celestia walks off towards the castle as Blueblood and Twilight give her a wave. Now they are left alone and neither one knows what to say, an uncomfortable silence builds between them for a few minutes as they simply look everywhere but each other's direction.

“So...” Blueblood decides to act. “Do you like animals?”

A simple question and one that Twilight is grateful for. The silence was starting to become too much for her.

“Not as much as my friend Fluttershy, but I do own an owl.”

“You know Fluttershy?” Blueblood asks.

Twilight finds herself surprised by how casually Blueblood spoke her name. Do they know each other?

Twilight nods. “Yes. Do you?”

“We talk a lot in the garden. She’s very nice.”

Twilight finds this entire situations interesting. Something isn’t right here. If Blueblood is as bad as her friend made him out to be then why would Fluttershy spend time with him?

“That sounds like Fluttershy.”

“How long have you know each other?” Blueblood asks out of interest.

So far this is going great. Blueblood seems like a good pony but there’s much more she can learn. If Blueblood is open to hearing her story then perhaps this is a great opportunity to get to know him as well.

“I guess our friendship started when I first came to Ponyville.”

* * *

Luna is deep in thought as she walks down the hallway of the castle. She’s been thinking about what she is going to say to Anon. Just trying to figure out the right words seems like a losing battle for her, something she isn’t used to. She above all wants to avoid sharing her memories of that time in her life. She fears how that would come to affect him if she were to do such a thing. It would be best to simply lay herself bare, put all the cards on the table, as the saying goes. Yet she fears what will come of this. Trust is a tree that takes time to grow but seconds to cut down. If Anon loses trust in Luna, she doesn’t know how she’ll handle something like that.

 _“Why do you care what that human thinks?”_ A voice whispers inside of her head.

“I thought I told you to never talk to me again.” Luna speaks to herself.

 _“Your thoughts are giving me a headache.”_ Nightmare moon mocks.

“Well, seeing as it’s my mind, I can think about whatever I please.”

_“Pointless thoughts is all I see. Forget what that creature thinks.”_

Luna notices a certain hostility to Nightmare’s tone.

“It seems that you’re in a sour mood.”

Nightmare scoffs. _“I just find your infatuation with that beast annoying.”_

Luna grits her teeth at hearing that.

“I will say this once, Nightmare. When it comes to what I care for, hold thine tongue, lest you wish to part with it.” Luna threatens.

Nightmare gives another scoff but doesn't say anything else. Luna has no idea what’s with Nightmare today. Usually, she keeps her silence for the most part. It’s just another thing she doesn’t understand. Pointless to waste thought on that mare, as Anon is far more important. It then hits luna like a ton of bricks. She places a hoof to her chest as her heart weighs heavy. The very air itself becomes so thick that one would think it were made of sludge. Something’s wrong with Anon, there’s no time to lose. She looks over to a corner that has a shadow and quickly runs into it.

She needs to find out what’s happening with Anon.

* * *

Blossom is stroking Anon gently as he continues to hold her. He’s been like this for a few minutes but she doesn’t have a problem with it. It’s almost as if a mother is comforting a child in a way. This reminds her of a time that has long since passed. Before her thoughts take her away, what happens next isn’t what she expects. Almost like a light being turned on, Anon suddenly moves away from her and quickly sits in his seat. He moved so fast that Blossom was impressed he didn’t break the sound barrier in doing so. Now she can only stare at him as he looks down at his plate. A thousand yard stare and a blank expression. Blossom has seen that look on the battlefield many times before. Nothing is said between the two as Anon looks at his plate and Blossom continues to face him. It feels as if an eternity goes by before Anon opens his mouth.

“Thank you.” Anon says with an emotionally dead tone.

“I said I was going to protect you. I never break a promise.”

They’re left in silence. Anon is stuck in his own mind trying to sew his sanity back together. Everything that happened just happened too quickly for him to comprehend. It was all normal and then _she_ showed up. The thought of her sends a chill down his spine. Every time she is near Anon doesn’t feel like himself. It’s almost as if he turns into a animal. He needs to run when she’s close. Thinking about it is just going to make the feeling worse. He needs to calm down before he gets sick.

Yet his thoughts start to turn on him. Falling into a darker area of his mind. Why is he so weak? Why can’t he just be a man? He’s pathetic. Being afraid of a pony. Needing others to save him. He feels his fists clench as those thoughts take over. They’re right, he is weak. If it wasn’t for the sister’s he’d probably still be in his home avoiding ponies. They probably think of him as nothing more than a child to take care of. That’s why they do it, isn’t it? They do it because they pity him.

As his thoughts become all consuming, he feels something settle on the top of his left hand. He looks over to see that Blossom put her hoof on his hand. She’s giving him a gentle smile, a smile that reminds him of Celestia. Blossom... She really did come through for him. She said she was going to protect him and that’s what she did. Even after she was willing to stay to try and calm him down. Anon can feel the darker part of his mind starting to settle.

The fact is, Anon has a lot of friends that want nothing more than to see him safe. It’s not because they pity him, it’s because they actually care. Maybe he is weak, but there are ponies around him that are strong. Humans became great because of their willingness to make groups, and for most of his life, Anon has been alone. So now that he has people he can depend on, as long as he’s with them, then maybe he doesn’t have to be afraid? He can feel a smirk grow on his face as he looks down at Blossom’s hoof.

“I know you can’t keep your hooves off me, but please, keep it in the bedroom.”

Blossom is thrown off by his comment, but quickly feels a smile on her face.

“You can’t blame a mare for wanting all this.” She motions to Anon’s entire form.

Anon chuckles a bit. “I guess not.” He feels as if everything is back to normal as he looks down at his plate. “I’m starved.”

Blossom agrees. “Yeah, let’s eat.”

Just as Anon and Blossom are about to eat, the door the dining room is kicked open. They both look over to see Celestia is standing there while panting heavily. Not only that, but the two of them hear something coming from the other side of the room. They both look over to a dark patch in the corner and see Luna run out of it.

“Anon?!” Both Celestia and Luna shout.

“Yeah?”

They both gallop over to him until Anon is sandwiched between them both. They’re hugging him with enough force to crush his spine, but thankfully, he’s only taking half the force. Blossom is also being sandwiched between them as well.

“W-What’s wrong?” Anon grunts out.

“I felt that something was wrong.” Celestia and Luna speak at once.

“Can you let go of us?” Anon asks.

“Us?” They speak in unison again.

Luna and Celestia let go of Anon and see Blossom there as well. Both Anon and Blossom gasp for air. It was a really tight hug.

“Terribly sorry about that.” Celestia apologises.

“No problem.” Blossom fixes her fur some.

Luna rests her attention directly on Anon.

“What happened?” She asks.

Anon isn’t too sure if he wants to tell any of them about what happened, but he knows they’ll find out eventually. Blossom, after all, is Luna’s captain. So he might as well get this out of the way.

“Twilight came here.”

Luna feels her features hardened and Celestia finally understands what she felt earlier. While Celestia is filled with concern, Luna is filled with anger.

“What did she do?” Luna asks.

“Nothing.” Anon looks at Blossom. “Blossom hid me until she left. I was a bit shaken up, but I’m fine now.”

Luna looks over at her captain with a questioning gaze. Blossom nods in confirmation. Luna feels her expression soften as she returns her gaze to Anon.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” She asks out of concern.

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry, Anon.” A voice speaks up.

Anon looks over at Celestia as she turns away from him. What’s got her in such a bad mood?

“What do you have to be sorry for?”

“I sent Twilight here.”

The entire room falls silent. Anon can feel his thoughts explode into thousands of questions, his emotions wanting to shift to anger but he calms himself. There’s more to this than meets the eye. He needs to know what happened.

“Go on.”

Celestia can feel everyone in the room looking at her, yet she has not turned back to meet their gaze. She can’t.

“I invited Twilight to have lunch with Blueblood and I. When I was going to send the order to the chefs, Twilight offered to come here and tell them herself. I had a feeling that something was wrong, but I still let her go.”

Anon takes a few seconds to take in what Celestia said. A sigh leaves him. It’s not her fault. Even if he wants it to be, he can’t blame her for an honest mistake. Maybe she could’ve checked the castle with her magic for his location, maybe she could’ve told Twilight not to go. These are things she could’ve done, but even then, she’s not at fault for what happened. Anon gets up from his seat and walks over to Celestia. He doesn’t pause as he takes her into an embrace.

“Just an honest mistake.” Anon says.

Celestia feels her heart skip a beat as Anon holds her. She can feel her eyes glisten some at his words. So instead of saying anything, she simply wraps him into her wings and holds him tight. Anon can feel some dampness on his shoulder. He hates it when Celestia cries, especially when it's for his sake.

“I still feel responsible.” She states.

“I don’t know what to tell you, Tia. I don’t blame you, so there’s no reason to feel responsible.” He then looks over at his meal, then at the two sisters. “You two want to have lunch with Blossom and me?”

That catches their attention as they give shallow nods. Celestia and Anon break from their embrace. Anon returning to his seat while Celestia cleans herself up a bit. After everything has calmed down a new voice speaks up.

“May I take your orders?” A waiter asks.

Anon flinches, he swears that damn pony is a ninja. With everything settled, Celestia and Luna both give their orders to the waiter. Luna quickly takes the open seat beside Anon and Blossom notices a jealous gaze Celestia is giving her sister. Blossom gets a smirk on her face as she takes in the scene. Well, perhaps now is the time for her to take her leave.

“I need to get back to the office and finish off the paperwork that’s leftover.” Blossom speaks up.

“Are you sure?” Anon asks.

She nods. “Positive.” She gets up from her seat and walks over to the dining room door, stopping briefly as she turns back to face Anon. “Enjoy your meal, Stud.”

Blossom quickly departs and leaves Anon alone with the two sisters. They’re facing the door just before they look back at Anon.

“What does she mean by _stud_?” Celestia asks.

Anon feels his face fall into his hands. That damn bat! He’ll make her pay for that.

* * *

Gilda is hiding on top of a building as she watches the mare from the shop talking to the guards at the front gate of the castle. So that thing really does knows the rulers of this place? Gilda vaguely remembers what happened last night, as she decided to get smashed soon after, but she does remember that creature. How it wrapped its arms around her, stroked her plumage. It even had the gall to make her purr! Gilda has never been so embarrassed in her life!

Gilda is filled with so many emotions right now. Mostly anger. It probably did that on purpose. If it knows the rulers, it’s bound to know the elements as well. Gilda feels her beak click at a certain thought. She wouldn’t be surprised if he only did that because of Rainbow, she probably put him up to it! To make her look like a fool again! Well, Gilda is no fool and she’ll teach that creature a lesson! Then she’ll find Rainbow and teach her a lesson about loyalty when she pounds her muzzle in!

“Should you really be sneaking around on such a fine day?”

Gilda quickly whips around and finds an orange pegasus mare in front of her.

“Who in the hay are you?” Gilda asks.

“Spitfire. That’s not important. What is important is your interest in Anon.”

Gilda feels her eyes narrow. “You know that creature?”

“Somewhat. I was in the shop while you were having a “chat” with the owners.” Spitfire lands on the roof a few hooves away from the griffin. “Now, I don’t like it when someone gets hurt. So I’m going to convince you not to lay a claw on Anon.”

Gilda rolls her eyes. “Like I’d listen to what you say.”

“Is that so?” Spitfire chuckles a bit. “What if I told you that I’m doing this for your sake, not Anon’s.”

Gilda looks at the pony with a raised brow. She must be joshing?

“Why help me?”

“As I said, I don’t like seeing others get hurt.”

“And you think I’m the one that would get hurt?”

“Think?” Spitfire shakes her head. “You misunderstand... I know you will get hurt.”

Gilda rolls her eyes as she waves Spitfire off.

“Yeah, if you’re done wasting my time, I got some face to pound.”

“If you want to get turned into ash, then be my guest.”

Gilda freezes in place when she hears that.

“Excuse me?” Gilda turns to face Spitfire again.

“You’re not from around here, so I’ll let you in on a secret. The two rulers are very close to Anon. I doubt you’d get within hoofs length of him before one of the sisters blasted you into ash.”

“You’re bluffing?” Gilda squints at Spitfire.

“Yeah, I am.” Gilda relaxes some. “Chances are slim you’d get past his friends. Let me tell you, ponies that know Anon are _passionate_ about his safety.”

Gilda wants to refute that but then her mind drifts back to her interaction in that candy shop. Those two ponies from before weren’t bluffing when they said they were ready to duke it out in their own store. It’s one of those very rare moments when a pony actually stands up against a griffin. So this creature has a lot of friends that are willing to fight for him? Gilda feels her beak click as Rainbow Dash briefly flashes in her mind.

Gilda scoffs. “Must be nice to have friends in high places. I bet he even goes on adventures with the Elements.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”

“Why is that?”

“Are you really that dense?”

“What was that?” Gilda feels her claws dig into the wood of the home below.

Spitfire casts a brief glance at her paws before she returns her sights on Gilda.

“Have you not heard about the punishment in Ponyville?”

“Why would I care about that place?”

“Well, seeing as that’s where the elements were punished, I assumed a lot of creatures would care.”

“Punished?” That catches Gilda off guard.

“Indeed, a lot of them were punished.”

“Was Rainbow Dash one of them?” Gilda asks.

“Yeah, she was.”

Gilda feels her eyes widen. When did this happen? For the most part, she’s just been drifting around Equestria for a while thinking about if she should go home or get revenge on Rainbow Dash. Yet to hear that she’s been punished, by the rulers of this place no less, is enough to make her pause.

“Tell me everything.” Gilda demands.

Spitfire feels a smirk on her face.

“Go ask Anon yourself.” Spitfire walks past the griffon and to the edge of the roof. “He’s not as bad as you may think.” Spitfire looks over her withers at the griffin. “I’m sure you two have a lot in common.”

Spitfire walks off the edge and glides down to the street below. She feels that it isn’t her place to tell others about what happened with Anon. That’s his choice if he wishes to share that information. She’s confident that she left the griffon more curious than hostile. She wasn’t lying though, if that griffin does hurt Anon, it’ll be the last thing she does. Spitfire chuckles at that thought a bit as she walks back to her home, it seems Anon will be rather busy today. Perhaps she’ll stop by some other time?

Gilda is standing on the roof as she watches that pegasus walks off into the crowd. She feels her features shift into a snarl. Tartarus! Gilda is putting her plans on hold for the moment. There seems to be something else she’s interested... Rainbow’s punishment. Gilda can feel a certain thrill inside of her at the thought of hearing about what happened. She can only hope that mare got it good. Her thoughts of harming the creature are currently on hold, there’s bigger fish to fry.


	14. Frienemies

Spike wipes the sweat from his brow. It took some time but he managed to escape from Twilight Velvet’s grasp. He swears that mare has hooves of steel. He will admit though that it’s nice walking around Canterlot alone for once. Usually Twilight’s with him but this time he got to see a few shops and other things that interested him. Yet he didn’t want to worry Twilight, so he quickly returned to the castle. One of the guards said he saw her in the garden, which is rare, so he went to search for her. Spike manages to find Twilight sitting alone against a tree.

“Hey, Twilight. Why are you out in the garden alone?”

Twilight looks over at Spike and gives him a smile.

“I was just enjoying the fresh air.”

“Really? Seems kinda boring.”

“Well, I wasn’t alone the entire time. I spoke to Blueblood for a while but he had to leave after a while.”

Spike gives a nod at that.

“Yeah, that makes sense, he usually hangs out in the gardens.”

That causes Twilight to raise a brow in question.

“Do you know him?”

“Sure do! We used to play a lot when I first hatched. Even when I started to grow we hung out a lot. He’s a nice pony, a bit odd but nice.”

Twilight will admit that he is indeed a nice pony, far different from what she heard from Rarity but she’s also surprised to hear that Spike knew him for a long time. Who else does he know? Twilight feels her thoughts focus. Does Spike know Anon? Surely they’ve spoken to one another when Anon lived with them but how well does he know him?

“Spike.”

“Yeah?”

“Did you and Anon ever get to know each other?”

Twilight notices Spike’s smile slip some.

“Yeah. We used to talk a lot about Equestria when you had to go and do element stuff. Then after he moved out, he didn’t seem the same anymore. He would stop by when you were gone to pick up a few books but he always seemed really jumpy and almost afraid to be in the library.”

Twilight winces at that. He was probably afraid that she would come back at any moment. Twilight can feel a sickness inside of her from the very thought of what she did nowadays. It’s probably a fraction of what Anon feels.

“W-Was he fun to talk to?” Twilight can feel her eyes gloss a bit.

“Um, yeah. He would talk about weird stuff from his world. Like, how the sun moves on its own. He also told me about some of the cool things they had, like a small device that could play music on the go.”

Twilight vaguely remembers those talks she used to have with Anon. It all seems so fuzzy to her now. The want to know more seemingly consuming her thoughts, rather than basking in the unknown. Even now she can feel something itch in her brain when she hears Spike talk. What device could do that? How does it work? How can the sun move on its own without the Princess? She brings her hooves up to grasp her head. No, she needs to stop!

“Twilight? Are you alright?”

Twilight didn’t even notice the wetness on her cheeks as a few tears fall onto the grass below her. She removes her hooves from her head and quickly wipes her tears away.

“Sorry, Spike. I just have a bit of a headache.”

“Must be pretty painful to make you cry.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Should we go see the doctor?”

Twilight shakes her head with a smile. It seems like only Spike is there for her nowadays. Even through all of this his thoughts of her haven’t changed. Then again, she hasn’t found the courage yet to tell him the entire story. She’s honestly afraid of what he might think. She knows that it has to happen eventually but that doesn’t mean it has to happen now.

“I’ll be fine. I think I should get back to studying.”

“If you say so.” Twilight gets up and Spike jumps onto her back. “So, what are you going to study today?”

“Well, I haven’t learned enough about body language yet. So I think I’ll start there.”

“What are we waiting for?”

While Twilight has a smile on her face, she also can’t forget why she’s here. It’s not going to be easy but it must be done. She just needs to take this one step at a time and with enough patience she’ll be able to earn Anon’s forgiveness.

* * *

Gilda is waiting for just the right moment to strike. That pony from the shop is still talking to the guards at the front gate and this may be the only opportunity she gets. She quickly flies towards a bush that is near the castle and hides inside of it. Now all she needs to do is find out where that creature is. She fully intends to hear about what happened in Ponyville but first she has to find it. Gilda peaks out of the bush and quickly moves to another. This should be ea-

“Hey.”

Gilda freezes in place. Maybe that was just in her head? What are the chances someone spotted her already?

“I can see you.” The voice speaks up.

Gilda clicks her beak in frustration. How did she get caught so fast? Hiding is pointless, so she leaves the bush and finds a weird looking pony standing there dressed in full armor. Gilda sits on her rump and raises her paws in the air.

“You got me.” She admits.

“Hmmm... I thought griffins were graceful on their paws... Guess you were the exception.”

Gilda feels her left eye twitch at that insult.

“That’s rich coming from a freak.” Gilda replies.

“In bed.” Blossom adds with a chuckle. “So, answer me this, _Twinkle paws_. Why did you decide to sneak into the castle today? You a reporter?”

Gilda can already feel how different this pony is. Not only in how she acts but also her demeanor. She speaks calmly but Gilda can sense a certain danger that is present, as if she’s ready to fight at a moment's notice. Gilda needs to play it cool, this isn’t a normal pony.

“I’m here to see a friend.” Gilda says.

Blossom feels a smirk cross her lips.

“I’ll pretend you didn’t just lie to me. Last chance before I break your wings in eight places.”

Gilda feels a chill run up her spine. That confirms this pony isn’t normal. She said that with a smile and no hesitation in her voice. Gilda admits that she’s outmatched here. Griffins are strong by nature but Gilda can almost sense a bloodlust of sorts coming off this pony. Add to the fact that she knows when Gilda is lying just makes this all the more challenging. So, with a heavy sigh, she does something she wouldn’t expect. She tells the truth.

“I came here with the intention of punching the creature Anon in the face. That was until I heard that something happened in Ponyville that got the Elements punished. I want to know what happened and I won’t stop until I get that creature to tell me everything.”

There’s a bit of silence in the air. Gilda can only stand her ground as the pony sizes her up a bit. It feels like an eternity has passed as they have a showdown. What happens next is too fast for Gilda to see. All she feels is something plow into her, knocking her back into the bush. She was hit so hard that her head is left dazed.

“Captain Midnight.” A voice calls out.

“Captain Armor.” Blossom replies.

Gilda is still a bit dazed but decides to not move as the two of them talk. She can only guess that the pony pushed her into the bushes to hide her from the other captain. Still, that hit definitely hurt.

“May I have a moment of your time?” Shining asks once he’s close enough.

“I’m free. What is it you need?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to let you know that I got a report about Anonymous being in danger. Do you know of him?”

Blossom nods. “Luna has instructed me to personally guard him. We’ve been spending some time together.”

That’s surprising for Shining to hear but it does help things with this investigation.

“Good. The report says that a female griffin is looking to cause Anon harm. I don’t think I need to tell you what will happen to that griffin if she’s caught by either of the sisters.”

Blossom nods. “I would hope Celestia tosses her into the sun... It’s easier than cleaning up whatever Luna would do.”

Shining shivers in place some. He’s heard the stories but Blossom was actually there. He can only imagine what she’s seen in all her years of life. While day guards and lunar knights are literally night and day, Shining still respects her for what she does. A bit of an oddball but a fine captain.

“Agreed. If you find this griffin then try to contain her until we can find out what she wants.”

“Understood, Captain Armor.”

Shining salutes Blossom as she mirrors the action.

“Until next time, Captain Midnight.”

Shining drops the salute and goes back to searching. He’ll make sure the pegasi are on high alert. Last thing he needs is the culprit flying past everypony and straight into Anon’s room. In fact, he might just make sure his room is clear himself. Blossom waits until Shining is gone before she faces the bush.

“So... What will you do now?” Blossom asks. “You heard everything. I’m no friend of yours and will protect Anon with my dying breath if I have to. All things considered, the odds are against you.”

Gilda crawls out of the bush and cleans herself off a bit. Her chest still hurts a bit from whatever this pony did. It seems her suspicions were right about this pony, she’s fast and strong. There’s no way Gilda could fight a pony like this but she didn’t come to fight.

“I just want answers.” Gilda says.

“You think you’re entitled to those answers?”

Gilda looks Blossom in the eyes. “I am! Rainbow...” Gilda feels her beak click. “I want to hear about how much that mare suffered. It’s all I want.”

Blossom can see a certain fire in this griffins eyes. Not only that but she can also see a good amount of pain. In a certain way, it’s almost as if she’s looking into Anon’s eyes. Should Blossom really let this griffin get close to Anon? The griffin could barely even see her move when Blossom shoulder checked her. She’s probably only been in a few scuffles and nothing more. Inexperienced, foolhardy and persistent. Blossom admits she kinda likes that.

“Meet me in front of Anon’s shop tomorrow morning.” Blossom says.

“Wait... You’re going to let me meet him?”

Blossom nods. “Under my supervision. A word to the wise. If you make one aggressive move towards Anon, I’ll ensure you regret that decision for the rest of your life.”

Gilda gulps a bit at hearing that. This pony is serious. Yet, this is the best shot she has at talking to that creature.

“Alright. I agree.” Gilda says.

“Good. Now get out of here. There aren’t any guards around.”

Gilda takes the ponies advice as she quickly flies over the gate and back into Canterlot. Blossom watches as the griffin walks off into the city. It seems that Blossom has a bit of a soft spot. Sure, she could’ve just told the griffin what happened in Ponyville but she has a strange feeling that hearing it from Anon’s mouth, knowing his story, will make it all the more impactful. Blossom doesn’t know what will happen after that but she’s sure it’ll be interesting.

* * *

Anon is sitting in the room in silence as Luna and Celestia continue to stare at him. He gets up from his seat and does a small stretch.

“Well, I outta be hitting that dusty tr-”

“Sit.” Celestia commands

“Alright.” Anon sits back down.

“So, you seem to be rather close to Luna’s captain.”

Luna nods. “I agree with my sister.”

This situation doesn’t look too good for Anon. He can hear a certain tone to their voice that causes him concern. Why are they acting like this anyway? It reminds him of the time they talked about Lyra’s punishment. How adamant and serious they were. He doesn’t know why but he needs to ensure that Blossom doesn’t come to harm over nothing.

“Well, she’s a nice pony. Can you blame me?”

“Do you know what a stud is?” Celestia comes in.

“Yes, Tia... I know that a stud is.”

“Does she know something about you that we do not?”

What?! The thought alone is enough to make Anon pause. His mind thinking of Nightmare Moon in a more intimate manner. Why her?! Ugh! Stupid brain! Last thing he needs is to think of that mare in a weird way. It was bad enough that he can’t erase the memory of her frenching him, thinking anything more of her will just be asking for trouble, especially if he intends to see her again.

“No! She’s just a weirdo!” Anon looks to Luna for help. “You’ve known her for a long time. Tell her!”

Luna feels her thoughts settle as Anon looks at her pleadingly. A certain feeling inside of her calming down as she rationally thinks about the situation. He’s right. Blossom has always been a interesting character. Serious one moment and completely care free the next.

Luna nods her head some. “Blossom can be a bit eccentric at times.”

“Exactly. She just started to call me that out of the blue. No rhyme or reason.”

Celestia takes in this information. It does make sense. True, she doesn’t know Luna’s captain as well as her, so it could just be an odd sense of humor. Yet for some reason she feels something deep inside of her that makes her angry. Just hearing that mare call Anon that put her in a sour mood. Yet she can see that there was no harm or insult being made.

“If that is the case then I have no objection. However, there are two meanings to that word, neither of them good.”

Anon lets out a sigh. That went somewhat well. He can understand why Celestia might be mad. Now that he thinks about it, that word can definitely be used as an insult. It’s like calling someone a whore. Yet he knows that isn’t what Blossom meant when she called him that. He trusts her enough to know she’s just messing with him and not being mean.

“I get it, Tia.” Anon looks down to his meal. “How about we eat and not let our food go to waste?”

Both Luna and Celestia can agree with that notion. So the three of them fall silent. As they simply enjoy their meal together.

* * *

Pinkie has a large smile on her face as she looks her sister over.

“You sure do fill out that dress, Maud. When did you get so much meat on those haunches?”

Maud feels a blush on her face. Her sister always finds a way to make her feel uncomfortable.

“You know I don’t feel comfortable wearing stuff like this, Pinkie. Are you sure this is alright?”

“How many times are you going to ask that? It’ll be fine! Anon is a sweet guy. He won’t try anything weird.”

“It’s not just that, Pinkie.” Maud has noticed something that’s been bothering her for awhile. “I’m worried about you. Why haven’t you talked to me about your friends? Usually you can’t stop yourself from telling me about all the adventures you go on with them.”

Maud can see how her sister’s smile fades some. Did something happen between them? Usually Pinkie gushes over what her friends have done since they’ve last met, yet that wasn’t the case this time around. Instead Pinkie showed Maud her new home, which oddly enough doesn’t even seem built for a pony. Then she wouldn’t stop talking about this friend Anon. Maud has never been one to know what her sister is thinking but she can tell that at the very least that Anon is a good friend of hers.

“Well...” Pinkie lets out a sigh. “I’ll be honest with you, Maud. Some bad things have happened.”

“Like what?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Why?”

“It... I’ll tell you everything after tonight. Alright? I don’t want to ruin this night.”

Maud accepts that. “Ok.”

Pinkie once again regains her smile as she walks over to a suitcase and open it up.

“But don’t worry, Maud. You’re not going to meet my friend dressed alone!”

Maud looks over as Pinkie pulls out a pink dress from her suitcase.

“Are you positive we won’t be overdressed?”

Pinkie shakes her head. “Of course not! Now, help me get this dress on!”

Maud lets out a small sigh. This is going to be an interesting night.


	15. The unknown

“Are you sure you have to go?” Celestia asks.

Anon has just finished his meal and has gotten up out of his seat. His day is far from over.

“Yeah, I kinda left Lyra and Bonbon at the store alone. It’s been fun but I need to get back to work.”

“Understandable.” Luna comes in. “Thank you for having lunch with us.”

“No thanks needed. It’s nice spending time with you two.”

That gets a smile out of the two sisters. Anon stretches in place some just before he gives them a wave and takes his leave.

“See ya.”

“Bye.” Both Luna and Celestia say.

Anon walks out of the dining hall and closes the door behind him. That was an interesting turn of events but he’s done with all this craziness for today. Time for him to head on back to work then get ready for his meeting with Pinkie. He swears he has no idea what the mare is thinking. He can only hope the evening turns out better than this day has.

* * *

Anon walks into the shop and gives a sigh of relief. Finally, a place he understands. The shop is still full and Lyra is working the register as usual. She looks up as she hears the doorbell and her eyes widen when she sees Anon. Anon already has a bad feeling as time starts to slow, he can see how Lyra jumps onto the counter and launches herself towards him. There’s no way he can move away in time, so he accepts his fate as she slams into him.

His back smacks against the door as he wraps his arms around Lyra to keep her from falling. She’s crying with her muzzle buried in his chest. Anon has no idea what could’ve caused this but he’s glad to see Bonbon come running from the backroom to assist him. That’s until he notices she launches herself towards him as well. He quickly moves Lyra to one arm and takes the hit from Bonbon just as he uses his free arm to hold her from falling. His back is definitely hurting now as these two cry over him. All the customers just as confused as he is.

“What’s going on? I haven’t been gone for that long have I?” Anon tries to joke.

“We’re so glad you’re ok!” Bonbon says.

“Why wouldn’t I be ok?”

“There was this griffin in the shop saying how she wanted to hurt you!” Lyra answers.

“Why would she want to hurt me?” Anon asks confused.

“I don’t know! She just seemed really angry with you.” Bonbon comes in.

Anon looks around the room and takes notice that this probably isn’t the best place for a conversation. So he carries the two of them past the customers and into the back kitchen.

“Butterhooves! Man the register!”

Butterhooves drops his mixing spoon on the floor in surprise, quickly giving a salute before running off to the storefront. Anon carries the two mares in his arms to the home kitchen and quickly sits them each in a chair. It takes them a few minutes but Anon waits patiently until they regain their composure. Once they do, he takes a seat and they give him their full attention.

“Now, tell me what happened. From the top.”

* * *

“There are so many things I don’t understand.” Twilight mumbles to herself. “So many things I’ve never noticed before. Why is that? Do other ponies notice this stuff?”

“Studying as hard as ever I see.”

Twilight feels her heart skip a beat as that voice hits her ears. She knows who that is instantly as she whips around with a large smile.

“Cadance!”

Twilight leaps off her seat and crouches low to the ground as Cadance does the same.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!”

Twilight can’t believe that Cadance is here. It’s been so long since the two of them have seen each other. Cadance is also happy to see Twilight as well but she instantly notices the ring on her horn and winces a bit at that. Cadance spent some time talking to Shining Armor and heard the story about what happened in Ponyville. Cadance, for the most part, thought it was some kind of joke but he was serious the entire time.

Now that she sees the ring she can’t help but feel conflict inside of her. How can the pony in front of her do such a horrible thing? It almost seems like an alien concept to think Twilight would even be capable of such a thing. Yet here she is, with a ring on her horn and a smile on her face. However, that doesn’t stop her from loving Twilight. They’ve spent years together and if Twilight made a mistake, then perhaps Cadance can help make everything better?

“How have you been?” Cadance asks.

“Great! I’ve been learning about how somepony can get another to forgi-...”

Twilight becomes silent as she feels her heart fall a bit. Does Cadance know about what happened in Ponyville? What does she think about her? Cadance notices Twilight’s pause and decides to step in.

“I heard about what happened, Twilight.” Cadance notices how Twilight freezes up. “I have no idea why you did it and I can’t even begin to understand what happened between you and Anon during that time,” Twilight feels her head lower as she listens to Cadance talk. “But I believe that right here and now, you truly wish to do the right thing.”

“I-I just... I...”

Twilight can’t stop herself as she buries her face into Cadance’s chest, letting go a stream of tears. Cadance can only embrace Twilight as she pats her back gently.

“Shhh... Shhh. It’s alright, Twilight.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Twilight keeps repeating to herself as she continues to cry.

“That’s it, let it all out.”

Cadance holds Twilight for a while as she cries everything out. It must be hard for Twilight. She’s so used to messing up and being forgiven. Yet what she did isn’t something that can be forgiven so easily. She’s faced with a challenge that she may never overcome. Cadance understands how Twilight feels, after all, she took care of her when she was a filly. Some time passes and Twilight finally calms down. Cadance using a wing to clear her tears away.

“Feeling better?”

“A little.”

“Good.” They break from their embrace. “So what have you been learning?”

Twilight clears her face a bit but feels calmer than she did moments before.

“I’ve been learning about body language.”

Cadance nods. “Hmm. That can be a difficult thing to learn from a book.”

“What do you mean?”

“Body language is organic. It’s different from pony to pony, creature to creature. Sure, you can learn basic things but to truly grasp body language you must go out and experience it.”

Twilight’s ears pin back a bit. “I-I don’t know, Cadance.”

Cadance feels a smile on her face. “Come on, let’s go!”

Twilight doesn’t get another word out as Cadance grasps one of her hooves and runs towards the library door. Even though she’s shocked by what is happening, she can’t help but feel a smile growing on her face.

* * *

“I find this lack of information disturbing.”

Anon is rubbing his chin in thought after having heard the story Bonbon and Lyra told him. An unknown female griffin came into the shop threatening to punch him in the face. The only logical assumption he can make is that he met this griffin while under the influence of alcohol. So what did he do that was so bad that she would want to physically harm him? Pointless thoughts. It seems he has an immediate threat he needs to worry about.

“There’s no reason to worry.” Anon says trying to calm Lyra and Bonbon.

“How can you say that!” Bonbon shouts in worry.

“What if this griffin catches you alone! We can’t protect you if you’re not with us!” Lyra adds.

Anon raises his hand to silence them. They just sit there in wait for him to speak.

“I’m not alone. Luna has ordered the captain of her guard to protect me. While I’m positive it isn’t her, there is a pony watching me right now. I can only assume it’s one of her subordinates.”

Bonbon and Lyra look around the room confused.

“How do you know that?” Bonbon asks.

“Let’s just say I’ve gotten used to watching my surroundings.”

“So, you have a personal guard?” Lyra asks.

“In a manner of speaking. Yes.”

That calms the both of them down considerably. Knowing that Anon has a trained guard, a guard of Luna’s no less, makes them feel a lot better about what is happening. Anon notices the both of them let out a sigh of relief. Hopefully that’ll calm them down about this situation.

“So no need to worry. Sorry you had to deal with that griffin in the first place.”

“Not at all!” Lyra comes in but quickly settles down with a blush on her face. “I-I wouldn’t let anypony hurt you.”

“Well, it’s one less thing you two need to worry about.”

Anon is taken away from this situation as he hears a crash from within the kitchen.

“Horse feathers!”

Anon lets out a sigh as he recognizes Butterhooves’ voice.

“We better get back to work before things get ruined.” Anon adds.

“That’s probably a good idea.” Bonbon agrees.

The three of them quickly compose themselves and walk into the kitchen ready to get things back on track.


	16. Rock and a hard place

“So why are you getting dressed for the evening again?” Bonbon asks as she adjusts Anon’s tie.

Anon’s been getting ready for his outing with Pinkie and her friend for the past hour or so. He’ll admit to being a bit nervous at meeting a new pony but trusts that Pinkie has everything under control. He’s just thankful that Bonbon is willing to give him an outside perspective on how he looks.

“Pinkie wants me to meet a friend of hers. I guess she set the meeting up at some fancy restaurant.”

Bonbon gives Anon a skeptical look.

“Seems kinda weird if you ask me.”

She falls onto all fours and paces around Anon to make sure there’s not a single piece out of place.

“We’re talking about Pinkie, Bonbon.”

Bonbon stops as she looks up at Anon, thinking for a moment before giving a shrug.

“Guess you’re right about that. Everything looks to be in order.”

Anon looks himself over in the mirror. He must admit he looks rather nice. He doesn’t care much about his appearance on a day by day but he wants to set a good first impression, if only for Pinkie’s sake. 

“Thanks, Bonbon.”

“No problem. Just don’t stay out too late. Remember we have our celebration tomorrow and the party a day after that.”

“Oh yeah.” To think time moves so slowly when you’re having traumatizing events happen to you. “Thanks for the reminder. I’ll be sure to get in before midnight.”

“Alright. Now hurry up before Lyra finds out what you’re doing. She’ll probably try to follow you.”

That’s something Anon wants to avoid at all costs.

“Great idea.” Anon pats Bonbon on the head. “See ya.”

She slaps his hand away playfully. “Go, enjoy your night making friends.”

“We’ll see how that goes.”

Anon walks out of to the bathroom door and peeks his head out into the hallway. No Lyra in sight. Doing his best to tread carefully, Anon manages to escape the store without Lyra finding out. It’s a bit early for his meeting with Pinkie but he’s fine with wai-

“Hey!”

Anon jumps slightly at the sudden voice behind him, putting a hand to his chest to slow his heartbeat as he turns to face the pony responsible.

“Pinkie, what did I say about sneaking up on me?”

Pinkie only smiles widely at him before speaking.

“I wasn’t sneaking, I’ve been here the entire time!”

“You’ve been standing here waiting fo-”

Anon finds his thoughts grind to a hault as he takes a good look at Pinkie. This isn’t the Pinkie he’s used to seeing. Her hair is straight, a style he admits looks really nice on her. Not only that but she’s wearing a fancy looking pink dress. It’s such a shock that it takes Anon a few seconds to shake himself back to reality.

“You’ve been waiting here for me?”

She nods. “Yup!”

“For how long?”

“A few hours.”

As different as Pinkie looks, she’s still the same Pinkie. Anon looks around and finds that there isn’t another pony in sight.

“Your friend?”

“She’s waiting for us at the restaurant.”

“Care to tell me about her?”

Pinkie shakes her head with a smile.

“Nope! Now let’s go!”

Anon knew that wouldn’t work but it was worth a try. He just follows Pinkie in wait for what is to come.

* * *

Luna is looking at herself in her mirror. She takes a deep breath in and slowly lets it out. 

“Anon, I wanted to explain a few things. I know you’ve been curious as to what my past holds and since the unforscene meeting with Nightmare Moon has happened, I feel that I must share a few things so you may understand.”

Luna looks away from the mirror and shakes her head.

“That won’t work.” She returns her gaze to her own reflection. “Anon, I know you have many questions about Nightmare Moon. If you’ll give me a moment, I shall tell you everything you wish to know.”

Luna notices her reflection start to morph slowly into a mock image of Anon.

“How can I even trust you anymore?” He speaks. “You lied to me!”

Luna bares her teeth as she punches the mirror and shatters it into pieces. In the shattered remains she can see the laughing image of Nightmare Moon. There is one thing Luna will not tolerate and that’s somepony making a mockery of the one she trusts.

“That was your last mistake.” Luna mumbles to herself.

Luna’s horn glows brightly as a loud ear piercing shriek enters into her mind. She’s forgot who was in charge and now Luna must put her in her place. After a few minutes, Luna stops casting her spell and the screams die out. As much as Nightmare Moon likes to think she’s all powerful, the elements have locked her into a dream world where she can feel pain. This is how Luna has been keeping her on a leash.

“Care to play with my emotions again?” Luna asks Nightmare Moon.

 _“...No.”_ Nightmare moon answers past heavy panting.

“While I do enjoy your screams of agony, I prefer your silence.” Nightmare Moon doesn’t respond. “Great. Now I must prepare for Anon when he falls asleep.”

* * *

“Are you sure we should be here?”

Twilight is looking around from her table as Cadance tries her best to reassure her.

“This is the best place to learn about body language.”

“How is watching ponies eating going to teach me about body language?”

Cadance chuckles.

“Because most of these ponies are on a date.”

Twilight raises her brow. “So?”

“That means they’ll be talking to someone they like. You will see all the little minute details of their body as they become nervous, irritate, calm, joyful and so many other emotions.”

Twilight thinks over what Cadance is saying. It’s true that given the circumstances this may allow her to observe a great deal about ponies. There’s just so much going on that she’s not too sure where to start.

“I guess that makes sense,” Twilight looks down to her plate. “But did we really have to order meals too?”

Cadance chuckles a bit as a blush covers her face.

“I forgot to eat on my way to Canterlot. So this was the perfect excuse to get something to eat.”

Twilight feels uncomfortable right now. She can see how ponies will sometimes glance at the ring on her horn and then quickly look away. It’s like they think she’s a dangerous animal from the Everfree. Cadance notices Twilight’s discomfort but she wasn’t lying when she said this would be a good way for her to experience body language in a more natural way.

“It’s alright, Twilight. Just keep calm and take a look around. What do you see?”

Twilight puts a hoof to her chest while taking a breath in and then extends her hoof out as she exhales. A trick Cadance taught her on keeping calm and centering her thoughts. It calms her enough to take a look around. She scans the room and can see a few ponies. All of them varying in colors, oddly enough one of them has a fur color that is rather bland. Twilight feels her eyes stop on this pony as she finds something horribly wrong with her. The pony looks dead, unmoving to everything that’s around her.

“I-... C-Cadance.”

“Hmm?”

Twilight points to the pony. “Is there something wrong with that pony?”

Cadance follows Twilight’s hoof and instantly finds the pony in question. Ah, it seems this pony is stone faced, not showing much if any emotions. She just sits there looking at the door unmoving. Not even drinking from her glass of water. She’s so still that Cadance can’t even tell if she’s breathing. The only reason she knows the mare isn’t dead is because of the fact that her eyes show plenty of life.

“There’s nothing wrong with her, Twilight. She’s a “stone face”, they are known to show little to no emotion. I bet her voice is monotone as well.”

“How could I ever read a pony like that?” Twilight asks feeling more confused about this type of pony. It just adds more to what she needs to learn.

“Chances are you never will. They’re rather complex, most of the time only family can easily connect with ponies like that. Not that it’s impossible, mind you, it just isn’t something you’ll get right away.”

Twilight has no idea how to feel about this. She just looks at the pony in question for a few moments before moving on but before she can attempt to look at another pony, she notices that the stone faced pony’s eyes widen only by a few centimeters. Twilight has the odd feeling that the pony has seen something that’s shocking. Twilight quickly looks towards the front door and feels her heart freeze. Anon is standing right there. Not just Anon but Pinkie as well.

“Twilight?”

Cadance can see the alarmed look on Twilight’s face as she quickly looks away and covers her face. Cadance looks over to the door and feels her eyes widen as she spots a creature she’s never seen before.

“What is that?” Cadance asks.

“That’s Anon.” Twilight whispers.

“That’s Anon?” 

Cadance feels herself move to greet him but is stopped by a hoof grabbing her.

“No!” Twilight continues to whisper. “He can’t know I’m here. Who knows what might happen!”

“It can’t be that bad, right?” Cadance feels Twilight’s grip on her increase. She can see fear in Twilight’s eyes and decides to let her have this. “Very well, we’ll stay here.”

“We can’t stay! We need to get out of here as fast as we can!”

Cadance shakes her head. “You want to learn about body language, right?” Twilight nods. “I’ll cast a spell to hide our presence. We’ll watch and learn about him. This is what you’ve been waiting for.”

Twilight takes a moment to think, Luna’s threat is still at the forefront of her mind but decides to trust in Cadance.

“O-Ok... As long as he doesn’t know we’re here.”

Cadance smiles at Twilight as she casts a spell that makes them less noticeable.

* * *

“Fancy place.” Anon says looking around.

“Sure is!” Pinkie answers with a grin as they follow the waiter to the table.

The waiter sets three menus down at a table where a gray pony sits in wait for the both of them to take their seats. So this is the friend Pinkie wants him to meet? He has to say that she doesn’t seem like a friend Pinkie would have. Her stone like face and unmoving pose. Maud’s eyes shift slowly over to Pinkie as Pinkie and Anon take a seat. Everything remains silent until Maud says something.

“Is this the Anon you spoke of?”

Pinkie nods. “Yup!”

Once again everything becomes silent. Anon has no idea what’s going on in Pinkie’s mind, so he decides to introduce himself to this pony.

“It seems Pinkie has told you about me but the same cannot be said about you.” Anon comes in.

Maud looks over at Anon. “I’m Maud, Pinkie’s older sister.”

This is shocking to hear. Pinkie has a sister? Not only that but _this_ is her sister? They are so different that it seems impossible that they’re related. Anon then finds his mind flashing back to Pinkie’s dream. That small filly that was so different from the Pinkie he knew. Was Pinkie like this when she was a kid? No time to think on that, he needs to focus.

“Wow, I honestly wouldn’t have guessed that.”

Maud nods. “Pinkie is different. Then again, you’re just as different.”

Anon can’t deny that. He can only guess that Pinkie didn’t tell Maud about him being a different species.

“You’re right about that one. So Pinkie didn’t tell you I’m a human?”

Maud shakes her head. “No.”

“Have you ordered yet?” Pinkie asks Maud.

“No, I’ve been waiting for you two to show up so our meals can come out at the same time.”

“Perfect! Before we get into the thick of it, let’s order first.”

Anon can only shrug at this entire situation as he picks up his menu and looks over what he wants.

* * *

“Wow, so that’s Anon...” Cadance whispers to herself.

She is surprised that her aunt is friends with something so different. Then again, he doesn’t seem to act like a royal, but there’s a certain air about him that she can’t quite put her hoof on. Cadance can remember all of the great things her aunt told her about him. She wants to meet him right now but holds herself back for Twilight’s sake. It looks like the three of them are placing orders right now for their meals.

“What do you think he’s getting?” Twilight asks.

“I’m not too sure.” Cadance takes a second to look him over. “If I had to guess, I would say meat.”

“How do you know that?”

“It’s just the way he carries himself. How he scans the room, taking in what he sees. It’s a lot like how a griffin acts. Not to mention he has forward facing eyes. It’s a lot of small things that make a picture. By all means I could be wrong but that’s just a gut feeling I have.”

“Gut feeling isn’t very scientific, Cadance.”

Cadance looks over to face Twilight.

“That’s the thing, Twilight. Not everything can be solved with logic. Sometimes you need to just go with a feeling on the inside, a little voice that tells you that something is right or wrong.”

“A little voice?”

That seems so odd. Twilight reads books and tries to learn how to solve her problems. She then feels her mind flashing back to when Applejack and her were about to fall off a cliff in the Everfree. How she knew that she wouldn’t be alright if Applejack let go of her. Yet despite her logic, she believed in her friend and she was alright in the end. It feels like it’s been so long since she’s just believed in something that wasn’t written or seen.

* * *

Anon, Pinkie and Maud all sit in silence as they wait for their meals. Anon will admit this entire situation is rather odd. He’s still confused by the fact that these two are related. Pinkie is sitting with her usual smile and Maud has a blank expression on her face. It’s a face that Anon knows rather well. He’s been subject of the “stone face” from time to time. Yet it seems this mare is always stone faced. It’s hard but not impossible to read her emotions. She looks nervous, Anon has no idea how he knows that but he has a gut feeling. Perhaps he should try and lighten the mood?

“I have to say that meeting someone that’s actually normal is nice.”

“Hey!” Pinkie shouts with a pout.

Maud nods. “Ponies tend to get emotional over little things. I find it odd that they will almost always hug or make physical contact when they are distressed.”

“I know, right! When I feel like that I usually want to be left alone but ponies will hug the closest thing to them, which unfortunately is me most of the time.”

“Does it ever bother you when ponies will invite themselves into your home without asking?”

“Are you kidding me?” Anon points his thumb at Pinkie. “She does it all the time. In fact, this morning she snuck into my room to tell me about this dinner.”

Maud nods. “Pinkie has been like that since we were fillies.”

“I’m right here you know!” Pinkie crosses her hooves this time, increasing her pout level.

“You know what, Maud. I like you.” Anon says without hesitation. “You’re probably one of the most human like ponies I’ve ever met.”

“I’m not sure how to take that comment but I will assume it was a compliment.” Maud answers.

“Sure is. Now, what do you do for a living?”

“I study rocks.”

“So you’re a geologist?”

Anon notices a certain twinkle in Maud’s eye.

“You know what a geologist is?”

Anon nods. “Of course I do. There were many humans back where I come from who studied rocks and other things that had to do with our planet.”

“Wow. I could only imagine what types of rocks are there.”

Pinkie can only sit with a smile as she watches these two talking. She’s never seen Maud so excited to talk about her work to someone. Pinkie admits she doesn’t really understand what Maud does and because of that Maud doesn’t bring up her work. So to have someone who can actually understand and chat with her is making this night all the greater for Pinkie. Everything is turning out better than she expected.

* * *

Twilight finds her mind flooding with so many questions. It seems that on some level Anon is communicating with that pony rather well. How? In fact, who is that pony? Why is Pinkie there? There’s just too many questions for Twilight to handle. She... She must know. Cadance hears something happening behind her, she look over to Twilight and notices that she’s out of her seat.

“Twilight?”

“I have to know what is going on.” Twilight states.

“Twilight, we’re just here to observe, nothing more.”

“I-I can’t just sit here.” Twilight says while shaking uncontrollably. “I need to know more.”

* * *

Twitchy tail, achy hooves, rumbly tummy, itchy nose. This is bad. Pinkie looks around the restaurant. Her Pinkie sense is telling her that something bad is about to happen if she doesn’t stop it. She instantly finds the source as she notices Twilight walking towards them from afar.

“You two keep talking, I gotta use the little fillies room!” Pinkie quickly hops out of her seat and takes off.

“Well, that was odd.” Anon adds as he returns his attention to Maud. “So, do you have a favorite stone?”

Maud nods. “Sedimentary.”

“That’s a rather common stone.”

“It’s also the type my pet is.”

Anon chuckles. “You have a pet rock?”

She nods as she puts Boulder onto the table. “Yes.”

Anon can’t help but think back to some funny stuff on earth.

“You know someone used to sell pet rocks on earth. Over one million of them were sold.”

“Wow. Your kind must love rocks.”

Anon shrugs. “It was mostly for the novelty I think.”

Maud looks at Boulder and remembers why she brought him.

“I almost forgot. Boulder wants to apologise for hitting you.”

What? Now Anon is confused. 

“Sorry but I’m a bit lost here.”

“Pinkie threw him at you. He’s sorry for that.”

Wait... This rock is the same rock that hit him all those months ago? Weird.

“Uh... Well, thanks for the apology. No hard feeling?”

Maud gives a small nod.

“Thanks, it’s been on his mind the entire time.”

Yeah, definitely weird but then again Anon is in a world with talking ponies. Who knows, maybe this rock does talk? Anon doesn’t really want to think about this.

“So, may I ask you a personal question?”

“You may.”

“Has Pinkie always been...” Anon tries to find the right word to use. “Well, like she is now?”

Maud understands. Since Pinkie said that she is her sister, Anon is wondering how they are related.

“She became the way she is after getting her cutie mark.”

Cutie marks. The ultimate confusion in this world. So Pinkie’s cutie mark was enough to turn her into the pony she is today? So much stuff for Anon to handle in one day. He feels like his brain is about to fry.

“Well, I have to say, compared to Pinkie, you’re rather down to earth.”

“I guess. Though Pinkie does have her own charm. She can make friends easily and everypony is happy to see her. Most ponies just avoid me. Not that I mind.”

Anon gets it. Though he honestly finds Maud to be a breath of fresh air. There are just so many ponies in this place that are happy or just overly emotional. Yet Maud is a stark contrast against that norm. Kinda like him.

* * *

Twilight stops when she notices Pinkie walking directly towards her. Not only that but she looks angry. A look Twilight has never seen before. Once Pinkie is close enough she takes the opportunity to speak first.

“What are you doing, Twilight?” She asks.

“I just wanted to know what’s going on.”

Pinkie takes a step closer to Twilight.

“I’ve been planning this dinner for a long time and you’re not going to ruin it.”

“Pinkie, I swear I won’t interrupt. Just give me a few mi-”

“No.”

“W-What?” 

The tone Pinkie said that in was downright menacing.

“I said no. You’re not getting anywhere near Anon or my sister.”

“Your sister?” 

Twilight looks past Pinkie at the gray pony but her vision is cut off as Pinkie takes a step in front of her.

“Yes, my sister. Now go back to whatever it was that you were doing.”

“I have to know how Anon can understand your sister.”

Twilight is about to try and walk past Pinkie but is stopped when something grabs her firmly from behind.

“Twilight will you stop!” Cadance whispers loudly. “You’re starting to draw attention.”

Twilight looks around the room and can see a lot of ponies starting to direct their attention towards her. Each of them given various looks of judgment. Twilight’s ears pin back as she comes to her senses. 

“S-Sorry.”

Before anything else can be said Twilight runs towards the front door of the restaurant. Cadance not far behind her.

* * *

Anon hears a loud noise come from the front door and turns around to see a weird looking pony running out of the restaurant. Was that another alicorn?

“All done!” Pinke sits back in her seat. “So what have you two been talking about?”

Anon looks away from the front door and returns his attention to Pinkie.

“Various things. Nothing too special.” Anon answers.

“Are you enjoying yourselves?” Anon and Maud give a nod. “Great! Because I have a surprise for you two.”

“Surprise?” Anon asks hesitantly.

“Mmmhmmm!” Pinkie nods. “Let’s eat and we can get the show on the road.”

No use in trying to get Pinkie to spill the beans. Anon looks down to his meal, chicken or something that looks like chicken, he doesn’t know. It smells great though. So he might as well enjoy himself before Pinkie does whatever it is that she’s planning.

* * *

Celestia lets out a sad sigh. It’s so boring around the castle. She has no idea where everyone has gone. Twilight is missing. Luna is locked away in her room. Blueblood is asleep. Cadance is most likely with Shining Armor and Anon is back at his shop. There isn’t a single pony around for Celestia to talk to.

“Hello, Princess.”

Celestia stops as she looks down to see Fluttershy bowing before her. 

“Hello, Fluttershy. What is it that you’re up to?”

Fluttershy rises from her bow.

“I’m going to the dining hall to get something to eat.”

Celestia feels a brow raise. Wait a second... Why is Fluttershy still here? Wasn’t she supposed to return to Ponyville today?

“Fluttershy, why are you still here? Didn’t I tell you that you were free to return to Ponyville?”

Fluttershy nods. “You did but, as it turns out, Anon invited me to a party. So I thought it would be alright to stay here until then.” Fluttershy starts to feel a bit timid. “That’s alright, isn’t it? I don’t want to overstay my welcome.”

This is an interesting surprise. So Anon has invited Fluttershy to his party too? That wasn’t something she was expecting but perhaps something happened between them that has made Anon less wary around her? Well, it’s none of her business but she’s glad to hear that Anon is at least trying to open himself to ponies of his past.

“You are free to stay as long as you like. I’m happy to hear that you will be joining us for his party.” Now that Celestia thinks about it, she hasn't spoken to Fluttershy much. Perhaps this is a good time to get to know her? “Do you mind if I join you for dinner?”

“Not at all.” Fluttershy says with a smile.

“Very well.”

* * *

“What am I looking at exactly?”

Anon is stuck in place as he looks into the room where Pinkie stands. Maud and him both look rather uncomfortable but Pinkie’s smile hasn’t lifted yet.

“We’re at a formal dance competition!” Pinkie shouts with enthusiasm.

Anon takes in the room full of ponies all dressed to impress as a few of them chat with each other. It definitely looks like a popular event, as the place has a decent amount of ponies present. He can see that there is a set stage for the judges, as well as seats against the walls for the contestants to sit and wait for their turn. Everything looks professionally made and that has Anon on guard.

“Why are we here?” Anon asks confused as to why Pinkie brought him here.

Pinkie somehow places her hoof onto Anon’s shoulder and pulls him down so she can whisper into his ear.

“Maud is going to go off to study rocks once her visit is over and I want her to have as much fun as possible. I don’t know what you two talked about but I know she loves dancing but never gets the chance to do it. Please, for me, just show my sister a good time.”

This is weird on so many levels that Anon has no idea how to process this. He’s just met Maud and while she’s a lovely pony he’s not too sure how to approach a situation like this. Still, as Pinkie gives him her signature puppy eyes and quivering lip, he knows his choices are limited at this moment.

“Isn’t this weird?”

“Not at all. Trust me, Maud will love this.”

Anon lets out a sigh. “Alright.”

Pinkie lets go of Anon and looks over to her sister. 

“Great news, Maud! You’re going to dance with Anon.”

Maud looks at her sister, then to Anon and back to her sister.

“Pinkie, don’t you think this is a bit sudden?”

“Sometimes you gotta take life by the wings and make it fly!” Pinkie starts pushing Maud and Anon ahead of her. “Now hurry and sign up, the contest is going to start soon!”

Anon looks down at Maud as she looks up at him.

“We might as well do it. Pinkie’s just going to keep bugging us all night if we don’t.”

Maud give a nod of understanding. They have no choice in the matter but the least they can do is enjoy the evening that is being given to them.


	17. When all is lost

“Twilight!”

Cadance is running after Twilight after she bolted out of the restaurant. She has no idea what happened to her back there but whatever it was it wasn’t pleasant. Cadance saw a side of Twilight she’s never seen before. Sure, she was obsessive as a filly and always shown great interest in things she didn’t know but this was on an entirely different level. It was as if something was physically forcing her to act, as if it were an instinct. That matters little to Cadance right now, she just wants to make sure Twilight is ok.

Twilight doesn’t know what to say to Cadance. She doesn’t even understand it herself. She almost has an uncontrollable need to learn about Anon. There’s something about him she can’t stop herself from reacting to. He’s a well of untapped knowledge the likes Equestria has never seen and yet she cannot know it. Anon barely even knows it himself and that makes it all the more unbearable. Whenever she’s around him she gets this craving, to learn, to know.

He’s so different from everything she knows and yet he functions. Just the thought of him alone makes that feeling deep within her rise. She buries it as best as she can but it always comes back. Twilight’s legs get tired and she stops running. She looks up to see she’s at the park. She used to come here with her parents a lot when she was a filly. It feels like it’s been so long since she’s been normal. She wonders what it would’ve been like for her if she never decided to pursue magic? Was there a chance Anon and her could’ve been friends?

She closes her eyes tightly as tears start to roll down her cheeks.

“Twilight...” Cadance is standing behind Twilight as she cries. “Twilight, what’s going on?”

“I don’t know.” Twilight breaks down. “I can’t stop thinking about him. He haunts my dreams when I’m asleep and is always on my mind when I’m awake. I try every waking moment to find a way to make him forgive me but every step I think is one forward ends up being two steps back.”

“Why? Why are you pushing yourself so far to be forgiven?” Cadance asks confused.

Twilight looks at Cadance briefly just before she looks off into the park. An old memory of her playing by herself, all the other fillies and colts ignoring her, treating her like an outcast. She takes in a long breath and then lets out a sad sigh.

“~When I was a filly, I knew no wrong. I thought I was fine, when I was alone. I spent my life on a shelf, learning about all but myself. When I was a filly, I knew no wrong.~”

Her memories rapidly shift to when Anon first came to her home. She remembers how things used to be before they got bad.

“~He was all alone, scared of the world. I took him in and gave him my best. We talked all night and helped with his stress. I felt I could call him my friend! But something happened, one I can’t explain. He was all alone, scared of the world.~”

She winces as that day fills her mind. The emotions of it all taking hold as she belts out her requiem of sorrow.

“~I took everything from him, his humanity. I stripped his sanity and made him afraid! So how can I ask for forgiveness, with all that I’ve done! I deserve all that comes and all that’s right. For what I did cannot contest, all the pain laid on my chest. Strip me bare for what I’ve done! I’ll take it all, till I’m gone.~”

Twilight finally calms down a bit as everything comes together.

“~When I was a filly, I knew no wrong. Strip me bare for all that I’ve done, until I’m gone.~”

Once the last note rings out Twilight lets out an exhausted sigh as her last tear hits the dirt. Cadance can only stand there with wide eyes after having heard what Twilight said. Everything she spoke of is true and yet Cadance can’t accept this. This is too much for one pony to take. She can’t allow Twilight to feel like this, she needs to know that her pain will only make this all the more difficult for her.

“Twilight, you can’t keep putting the world on your shoulders. You need to take a break and learn to come to terms with what you’ve done. How can you expect others to forgive you when you cannot even forgive yourself?”

There’s a long eerie silence the fills the air before Twilight speaks.

“Cadance, I don’t think I want to be forgiven.”

“What?”

Twilight looks up at Cadance. Her expression is blank and her eyes show defeat.

“I deserve this. After everything I’ve done, there is no forgiveness for somepony like me.”

“How can you sa-”

“I need to go back to the library. Thanks for spending time with me.”

Cadance is left there mid-sentence as Twilight walks back towards Canterlot castle. This is serious. This isn’t just about forgiveness anymore. Twilight is falling into a pit of despair that she cannot get out of. Cadance could see the hurt on her face as her own friend gave her that look of anger and disgust in the restaurant. She’s all alone in the world right now and it seems there’s only one thing that can save her.

Cadance briefly looks back towards the restaurant where Anon was. She has one day until she meets him at his party. Until then, she needs to figure out a way to convince him to at least hear out Twilight’s plea. Otherwise, Cadance doesn’t know what may happen to Twilight.

* * *

“So how does this work?” Maud asks Anon.

“Easy. Just follow my lead.”

Anon and Maud are center stage. All eyes are on them as the judges sit at their table ready to spot any flaws. Then again, considering how different their dance is when compared to ponies, they're not really too sure what to judge their dance on. Still, Maud is on her hind legs so she can attempt to match Anon’s height. Anon has one hand at the small of Maud's back, while she has one hoof on his shoulder and the other in his hand. They’re perfectly positioned for a simple dance.

“I hope you know how to waltz.” Anon says.

Maud nods. “I do. Pinkie and I went to the same class.”

Anon takes that as a measure of confidence as he takes his first step. Maud seems to follow what’s happening as she takes her steps in kind, thankfully she wasn’t bluffing, she’s as graceful as Pinkie is while dancing. Which is odd because despite her rock like personality, she’s very fluid with every step she takes. Sure, her face is still barren but Anon gets the feeling she’s having a great time.

“You know, I’m surprised you’re this good at dancing.” Anon mentions.

“Considering how different you are to a pony, so am I.”

Anon chuckles. “I guess you’re right. Do the Pie’s have a natural talent to easily adapt?”

Maud nods. “The rock farm can be harsh and learning to adapt is important.”

There’s talk of a rock farm again. Pinkie didn’t give him much information on that but he can assume it’s a touchy subject for her.

“Yes, I hear about this rock farm from time to time but Pinkie never talks about it.”

“I’m not surprised. It’s not a place for her, she’s always been a social butterfly. As farms usually go, there’s not much around.”

Anon dips Maud briefly before bringing her back up to his chest.

“Yeah, Pinkie does like being social. I honestly feel bad that she likes hanging around me so much. You know, because I actually don’t like being around ponies all too much.”

“I know how you feel but when Pinkie wants me to meet somepony... Well, she’s my sister.”

“I think I understand how you feel, Maud. I don’t know, when it comes to Pinkie, I can’t tell her no. She really did a lot for me when I first came to Ponyville and I can’t thank her enough for that.”

“You’re a nice guy.” Maud says.

“Many ponies would disagree.”

“That’s because they never took the time to get to know you.”

Anon falls silent at that. Nothing else really needs to be said as the music slowly dies down and their dance comes to an end.

“This was fun.” Anon says.

“Agreed.”

Anon and Maud look over at the judges. They scored a thirty eight out of fifty. They just look at each other and shrug. They weren’t here to win anyway. They walk back over to Pinkie that has her jaw on the floor.

“Can you believe those ponies! How dare they give you such a low score!” Pinkie looks towards the judges. “Hey! You ponies blind! They should’ve at least scored a forty five!”

Anon just shakes his head while the judges try their best to ignore Pinkie. Before Pinkie can say anything else, Maud places a hoof onto her wither.

“I had fun, Pinkie. That’s all that matters.”

Pinkie looks from Maud up to Anon.

“Yeah, it was fun. We never entered to win anyways, right?” Anon adds.

“I guess.” Pinkie looks down.

Anon looks over to a clock, it’s starting to get late but Anon has one last idea before calling it a night.

“How about I cook you ladies up some sweets? How does that sound?”

Maud notices a small sparkle in Pinkie's eye.

“Oooh! What are you planning to make, Nonny?”

Pinkie disappears from where Maud was looking and into Anon’s arms. Startling them both as Anon quickly grabs Pinkie so she doesn’t fall. Once he catches his breath does he look at the pink mare in his arms.

“Maybe something new.” He says. “Come on, let’s go.”

Anon looks down at Maud and gives a shrug. It seems Anon doesn’t like seeing Pinkie sad either. It puts Maud’s heart at ease knowing there’s someone out there that’s looking after her sister. Even if her sister is a bit weird.

* * *

Anon walks into the store and sets Pinkie down.

“Alright, let’s not get too crazy. Bonbon and Lyra are probably trying to get some sleep.”

Both Pinkie and Maud nod as he waves for them to follow. He leads them through the shop and into the kitchen in the back. Yet what he finds there isn’t what he expected. Bonbon and Lyra are here, stuffing their faces with various sweets. They look his way when they hear the door open, each showing a bit of shock at his entrance.

“Anown?” Bonbon asks past her full mouth.

Anon closes his eyes, takes a deep breath and one step backwards to exit the kitchen. Once the kitchen doors close does he exhail.

“Anon, is somet-” Anon holds up his hand to stop Pinkie.

He waits a few moments and walks back into the kitchen. Bonbon and Lyra are cleaned up now but the place is still covered in various sweets.

“I’ve brought company.” Anon says and shows Pinkie and Maud into the kitchen.

Lyra looks at Anon, the mares, how he’s dressed and then quickly back at Bonbon.

“I thought you said Anon went to the castle!?”

Bonbon twiddles her hooves. “Well, no, I said he _probably_ went to the castle.”

Lyra lets out a huff and pouts some. Anon just shakes his head as he looks at Bonbon.

“Care to explain this.” Anon waves at the entirety of the kitchen.

Bonbon chuckles. “Well, when Lyra knew you were gone we thought eating some sweets would help.”

Well, they’re owners too, it’s not like they _can’t_ eat the products.

“Alright, just clean up this mess. I’m about to cook.”

“Is it something new?” Bonbon asks.

“Maybe. Anyways,” Anon looks at Maud and Pinkie and points to a small table in the kitchen. “Get comfortable.”

They do so as he walks to one of the stoves and thinks over what he wants to make. So many things but as Anon looks over at Pinkie and Maud, he finds one thing that comes to mind. Rock candy. He’s sure Maud would appreciate that.

* * *

“It’s nice having your company, Fluttershy. Everyone has gone off to do their own thing and I’m left here by my lonesome.”

“I know how that feels. Though being alone doesn’t always have to be a bad thing.”

“For someone as old as I, being alone is more of a punishment than anything else.”

Fluttershy thinks that over. Celestia has been around for a long time. Not to mention her time alone when Luna was banished to the moon.

“I guess I can understand.”

Celestia notices she’s putting a damper on the mood.

“Though don’t let an old mare talk about her past. How have you been doing?”

“Great! I love the garden with all the animals. I’ve also made good friends with Blueblood.”

“It’s always nice to hear when my nephew makes new friends.”

“Yeah... Princess, do you mind if I asked a personal question?”

“Sure.”

“Um... Is Blueblood Luna’s son?”

Celestia can’t stop herself as she laughs a bit at that. She understands where Fluttershy is coming from but that’s not the case.

“Sorry for laughing, Fluttershy. It’s just amusing to think my sister would bear child. No, Blueblood was adopted by me. For one reason or another he called me his aunt and since then he was my nephew.”

“Oh, so Blueblood isn’t really a prince?”

“No, that’s just a title he’s quite fond of.”

“Wow. There’s so much that I don’t know about him. We’ve talked a lot but he really doesn’t talk too much about himself. Just about the garden, Anon or me.”

“Blueblood can be very shy when he first meets somepony.”

“I usually don’t like meeting new ponies either but Blueblood is very sweet.”

A silence builds between the two of them as they eat their meals. It’s not really awkward for either of them. Well, maybe a little awkward.

“Fluttershy, may I ask a personal question of my own?”

“Of course.”

“What do you think of Anon?”

That catches Fluttershy off guard.

“To be honest, I don’t know him at all. I always wanted to get to know him but after everything that happened in Ponyville it never worked out. Though I’m happy he’s been as willing as he has to open up to me. It must be very hard for him to face his past, even if I wasn’t the worst of it.”

“Anon is complicated.” Celestia admits with a sigh. “It’s hard for even me to know what is on his mind. Yet when he looks at me it’s as if he can see right through me. I’ve never known a creature like him, other than Discord perhaps, though not for the same reasons. Discord used his powers to manipulate others, Anon uses it to guide them away.” Celestia closes her eyes. “He’s come a long way from where he was. Maybe he doesn’t see, maybe no pony else sees it, but I can. He’s recovering slowly and starting to live his life.”

“He does look awfully happy when you’re around.”

Celestia feels her heart flutter at hearing Fluttershy say that. For some reason just hearing that makes her feel as if there’s hot air in her chest.

“Do you truly believe that?” Celestia asks.

Fluttershy nods. “Of course! You and your sister are really important to him. I don’t know if he says it but I could see it when you three were together that one time.”

“Well, we did have a bit too much to drink.” Celestia admits with a blush.

“True but Anon trusted you three enough to drink. I think that says plenty on how much he cares about you two.”

What Fluttershy says is true. Anon does tend to let things play out more when he’s with both sisters. Celestia still remembers when Anon would push them away and refuse to follow along with whatever they were doing. Now, now he simply trusts them enough to keep his best interests and feelings in mind with what they do. Celestia feels an ache in her heart. It happens whenever she thinks of Anon when he’s not around.

“He means a lot to me as well. Before I met him things weren’t this complicated or fun. He’s changed so much, not just himself but both my sister and I as well. Even the ponies have changed, if only a little. It was not too long ago when seeing my sister sit on the throne was enough to stun anypony that walked in, now it doesn’t even phase them.” Celestia looks at Fluttershy. “Anon may seem emotionless at times but I swear to you that he feels more deeply than anypony could ever imagine. He’s just too afraid to show it.”

 _“You’re not a bad pony.”_ What Anon said to her when he was intoxicated enters Fluttershy’s mind.

“I just wish I could get to know him as a friend.” Fluttershy admits.

“Give it time. I’m sure Anon will be the one to approach you when the time is right.”

“I hope so. He seems like a very interesting person. I mean,” She looks up at Celestia. “If you’re his friend, he must be amazing.”

Celestia feels a warmth on her muzzle.

“Well, as odd as it may seem, I think what I like about him the most is who he is. I wouldn’t want to change that for anything.”

* * *

“Whatcha makin?” Pinkie asks as she peeks over the counter at Anon.

“A secret.”

Anon grabs a few things off the counter and drops it into the pot.

“I love secrets. So what is it?”

“You’ll find out in about ten minutes.”

“Why so long?”

“Perfection has no time limit.”

Anon adjusts the flame so the boil is lower. He walks over to a cabinet and grabs a few more items. He sets them beside the pot and takes a second to think over how he’ll present them to ponies. Sure he can put it on a plate but that seems lazy. Not to mention if this does end up being sold at the shop, then he needs to make it earth pony friendly. It’s a constant thought he has when creating new things for his customers to enjoy. If it’s too hard for an earth pony to eat, then he doesn’t make it.

A spark of an idea comes to mind. He remembers those weird candy necklace things. He’s sure if he keeps the rock candy small enough, it’ll fit just fine. Not to mention they can easily be carried and eaten by earth ponies. Anon takes some string out of the cabinet as well, while Pinkie returns to her sister and the two other mares.

“Anon looks concentrated.” Pinkie remarks as all four of them watch as he gives his full attention to what he’s creating.

“Yeah, he’s thinking about how it’ll be served to a wider range of ponies.” Bonbon says.

“Why would he think that?” Maud asks.

“Anon is always thinking of ways to make his products easier to eat.” Lyra comes in. “He knows it’s hard for earth ponies to use things that unicorns take for granted. So if his sweets can’t be easily eaten by earth ponies then he tends to drop the item.”

“That’s rather considerate of him.”

“He’s spent many hours reworking how we sell things. Even the bags we give to ponies can easily be carried by earth ponies. Honestly, I’ve never really given it as much thought as he has.” Bonbon says.

“So what do you think he’s making?” Pinkie comes in.

“Now that’s something I can’t answer. It could literally be anything.”

“Whatever it is, it smells nice.” Lyra adds.

“We should let him work. So what were you girls up to? I know Anon told me that you took him out to meet a friend. Is this her?” Bonbon looks over at the gray mare.

“Yup! This is my sister Maud.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Bonbon extends her hoof to Maud.

“Same.” Maud shakes hooves with her.

“So why are you two dressed so nice if this was just a meeting for friends?” Lyra comes in.

“I made a reservation at a fancy restaurant. My sister’s never been to a restaurant in Canterlot before.”

Lyra can’t help but feel a bit jealous. The thought of going out to a fancy dinner with Anon sounds great! She would be dressed in one of her silk dresses. She then looks up at Anon while he’s still dressed in his suit. She feels a large blush on her muzzle as she covers her face. Bonbon can practically hear Lyra’s thoughts as she just shakes her head and returns her attention to Pinkie and her sister.

“So what else did you do? It’s rather late, so did you go somewhere else?”

“Pinkie took us to a dance competition. We didn’t win but it was fun.”

“Oh? I didn’t know Anon could dance.”

“He’s great at it!” Pinkie speaks up. “I would say he could do is professionally if he wanted.”

“I wouldn’t say that.” Anon’s voice breaks the four out of their conversation. “I’m decent but where I’m from there’s much better.”

“Are you done?” Pinkie asks with excitement.

Anon nods, holding something behind his back.

“Can you four close your eyes?” They aren’t sure what he’s planning but they do as they’re told. Each of them can feel something being places on their necks. “Alright, open.”

When they open their eyes they all look down to see a necklace of sorts made of candy. The candy itself was as clear as any gemstone and yet they smelled of strawberry. This was candy? Bonbon hasn’t seen something like this before. Anon can see that Lyra and Bonbon are surprised but when he looks over at Pinkie and Maud he spots something else. They’re both shocked. The weirdest part is that Maud’s eyes are fully open, instead of her usual lazed look.

“Uh... Do you like them?” Anon asks unsure about their reaction.

“Y...” Pinkie is at a loss for words.

Anon made them a rock candy necklace. How did he even know how to do it? Sure it’s not as extravagant as what Pinkie and her sister make but Pinkie didn’t even know he knew how to make this candy. She just thought it was a Pie family recipe.

“Anon, where did you learn to make this?” Maud asks.

“It’s just one of the many things humans have made. Is that a bad thing? I know you like rocks so I thought you’d like something like this.”

“It’s great... Just a bit surprising is all.” She looks up at him, her eyes back to the usual lazed look. “Pinkie and I make rock candy too. Just... We make it for a different reason.”

Anon has a feeling that it’s personal.

“Oh, well I hope you like them. I’m not sure how you and Pinkie make them but this was my first time making it so I hope they turned out alright.”

Anon looks over to find Pinkie is already eating hers with a large smile and tears running down her face.

“It’s so good!” Pinkie compliments. Her eyes then snap open. “We should cook together sometime and I can teach you how _we_ make rock candy!”

“So there’s a difference?”

Maud nods. “Yes, I can tell that you used various sugars in place of rocks.”

“Rocks?”

“They are a special kind of rock. Edible. It adds a slightly different texture to the candy but overall they are largely the same.”

“The same?!” Pinkie shouts. “Can’t you taste the finesse, Maud? It’s almost like I can taste every grain of sugar.”

“My palate was never as refined as yours, Pinkie.”

“Well, I don’t think it deserves that high of praise.” Anon speaks out. “I could probably improve in a few areas.”

“No way! It tastes perfect!” Pinkie insists.

Anon doesn’t know how to take these compliments, so he turns over to look at Lyra and Bonbon.

“What do you two think?”

“I agree with Pinkie, they taste great.” Lyra says.

“These would sell well with kids.” Bonbon adds.

Anon looks over at a clock. It’s starting to get late now and these compliments are making him feel uncomfortable.

“Look at the time. You two should hurry back to your hotel before it gets too late.”

Maud looks over at the clock and takes note of the time.

“You’re correct.” She looks over at Pinkie. “Let’s go back.”

“Sure thing!” Pinkie gets out of her seat, walks over to Anon and wraps him in a hug. “Thanks again for meeting my sister.”

Anon feels a bit uncomfortable but settles a bit as he returns the hug.

“Yeah, it was fun. Now go and get some sleep.”

She lets go of him and starts walking towards the kitchen door.

“Let’s go, Maud.”

Maud and Anon look at each other for a brief moment.

“Bye.” Maud says.

“Bye.”

That’s all that’s needed to be said as she walks out of the kitchen with Pinkie. Oddly enough Anon noticed she hadn’t even eaten her necklace the entire time. Well, maybe she’s just a shy eater? Anon looks back over to Bonbon and Lyra.

“Well, I’m tired. I’ll be heading off to bed.”

“Just make sure it’s not our bed this time.” Bonbon jokes.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He walks behind them and gives them both a hug. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” They respond just as Anon gets up and walks away.

* * *

Pinkie and Maud are back in their room getting ready for bed.

“I never expected Anon to make us rock candy necklaces.” Pinkie says as she shimmies herself into bed.

“That was a pleasant surprise.” Maud adds.

Pinkie looks over at Maud as she pulls out a small box, still wearing her rock candy necklace.

“Why didn’t you eat yours?” She asks.

“I’ll eat it later.” Maud adds.

Maud opens the small box filled with her sister’s rock candy necklaces. She takes off the one Anon gave to her and also sets it inside. She closes the box and lays down in bed. This has been a great trip. However, there’s still something else on Maud’s mind.

“So, Pinkie... What happened between you and your friends?”

Pinkie lets out a sigh.

“Well, it’s a long story but it started when Anon moved in with me. I didn’t know it at the time but my friends did some really horrible things to him.”


	18. Revelation P1

Anon is sitting in his dream world. A lot has happened and he’s just taking a few moments to try and get his mind in a right place. He hates to admit it but it’s exhausting to get up everyday and interact with ponies. Being social isn’t his thing and it takes a lot out of him. He’s happy that he can dreamwalk with ease now... It gives him a lot of time to be by himself. While he does have fun and enjoys his friends company, it’s still far from what he’s used to and he doesn’t know if he’ll ever get over his introverted ways.

Anon’s thoughts are taken from him as he hears someone knock on his door. Well, that can only be one pony.

“Come in, Luna.”

The door opens and Luna walks in with a slight pause. Anon instantly notices her hesitance and takes note of it. That’s not usually something she does, not to mention her demeanour is reserved and timid in a sense. This is enough to put Anon on edge. Something is going on with Luna and she’s come to talk to him about it. That much is obvious.

“Hello, Anon... I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything?”

He shakes his head. “Not at all, you know you’re always welcome into my dreamworld.”

That puts Luna at ease slightly but she still needs to talk to Anon about what he experienced.

“Anon... I have something I wish to speak to you about.”

He knew it. If he had to guess it’s probably about Nightmare Moon... Anon still hasn’t forgotten about her but he is cautious in letting Luna know about his plans with Nightmare. That’s something he’ll keep to himself for awhile, if only to sate his own curiosity.

“It’s about Nightmare Moon, right?”

Luna freezes in place. “Y-Yes... You probably have many questions and I am here to answer them. It is not something I wish to keep from you, as I feel we are good friends.”

Anon crosses his arms... Well, it’s interesting and it could give him insight on Nightmare Moon.

“How long has she been there?”

“Since the elements purified me.”

Anon doesn’t remember Equestrian history that well but he can assume she’s been there for more than a few years.

“Does she have any power over you?”

Luna shakes her head. “She simply inhabits my mind, nothing more. She keeps her silence on my day to day activities and stays locked within the void you saw.”

Hmm... He doesn’t want to question Luna too much. He can see that this is a tough subject for her. She’s probably worried about everything that happened between him and Nightmare Moon. While still fresh in his mind it doesn’t bother him as much as it did in the moment.

“Well, I’m not mad at you, if you’re worried about that.” Anon assures her. “I was just surprised is all. Other than that I’m willing to forget about everything that happened with Nightmare Moon.”

He can see Luna visibly relax. Letting out a large sigh as well.

“I was worried that you would become afraid of me. Think that Nightmare Moon was still in control of my actions.”

Anon can see how she came to that conclusion.

“I assume that I’m the only one that knows about her?”

She nods her head. “Please, keep it between us.”

“It goes without says.” Anon looks around his empty dream space. He has no reason to be here anymore. “You want to practice dreamwalking some more?”

That puts a smile on Luna’s face. “Yes, let’s continue your training.”

* * *

Celestia lets out a large yawn as she sits up in bed. She looks over to the empty side of her bed with a large sigh. Her heart hurting a bit thinking of Anon’s absence. Though the pain doesn’t linger as she’s reminded of the party tomorrow. Soon Anon will be given lots of free time to spend with her. There are still many things she wants to show him, things she’s never shown anyone. Perhaps even take him traveling to other kingdoms?

These thoughts are enough to get Celestia’s motor running as she hops out of bed filled with vigor. Yes, she must only endure this day, for tomorrow brings forth a new dawn. However, before she can start her day she must take a quick bath. Though it won’t be as fun without Anon, that’ll soon change and that’s enough to keep her spirits high.

* * *

“Wakey wakey!”

Anon opens his eyes to see Lyra is laying on top of him, a large smile on her face.

“What are you doing in here, Lyra?”

Anon was positive he locked his door.

“Breakfast is ready.”

“...Give me five minutes.” Anon says covering his face.

“Alright.”

While Anon can’t see her, he can tell that Lyra hasn’t gotten off him to leave.

“Lyra.”

“Yes?”

“I want five minutes alone.”

“Oh?!” Anon can feel Lyra scramble off him as she runs to his door. “I’ll be downstairs.”

Anon can feel an omen of sorts from how Lyra was acting. Yet he’s too tired to give it much thought. There’s a lot of things he needs to do today. Not to mention the party tonight with Bonbon and then the party tomorrow. Lots of things and very little time. His hand drops from his face as he lets out a sigh, looking at the ceiling. Well, time to get the day started.

* * *

Anon is walking around the kitchen, making sure all the chefs are doing their jobs. Not really hovering but keeping a close eye out for any mistakes. He can see that nearly all of them are doing well, all except one. Anon walks beside Butterhooves as he drips sweat from his head.

“Keep your head clear when leaning over the pot, I don’t want our customers tasting your sweat.”

“S-Sorry.” He quickly wipes his head clean.

Anon looks over his workstation. All things considered, it’s well kept and organized. Still, Butterhooves is nervous. Perhaps Anon’s intimidating demeanor is putting him on edge? If this keeps up then it’ll end with many problems down the line, that’s not something Anon wants to deal with.

“You’re doing well.” Anon says trying to boost his confidence. “Keep up the good work.”

Butterhooves looks up at Anon surprised. “Thank you, Sir.”

Anon doesn’t respond as he walks over to Bonbon. Last thing he needs is some weird heartfelt exchange with one of his employees. It’s already happened one too many times.

“How do you feel about everything?” He asks.

“I believe in our staff. They’re all hard working ponies that hold up the high standards we’ve set. I think we can leave this place to them.”

“Butterhooves?”

“He’s holding up as expected. The others are helping him wherever he needs help. I’m not too worried about him. Are you?”

Anon looks back at Butterhooves. He looks confident when he’s at his station but clumsy whenever he’s doing other things. It’s an odd thing but perhaps that’s just how ponies are? When they’re in their element then they are confident in their talents to guide them. Those are questions that matter little to him at this moment.

“He’s doing well.” Anon looks down at Bonbon’s paperwork. “How are sales?”

“We’re still making profit. I dare say we may even have enough to open another shop soon.”

Now that’s an idea. Anon rubs his chin in thought.

“Certainly would be an interesting idea. However, I’d like to make sure we’ve got everything covered before we thought about expanding. I’m sure you and Lyra would like to have someone else work the front and handle the paperwork.”

Bonbon rotates her neck some. “Yeah, that would be nice. It’s just a thought though.”

“So with all this money, what do you plan on doing with it?”

Bonbon shrugs. “I live a simple life, Anon. Just having a roof over my head is enough. There are probably less fortunate ponies that could use the help.”

“A philanthropist?”

She chuckles. “I guess.”

Anon feels good hearing Bonbon talk so casually. Knowing he’s the reason she has no financial troubles makes him feel like he’s done his job as a good friend. He doesn’t even know what to do with the money she gives him. Bonbon opened an account for him at some fancy Canterlot bank and he’s just been letting the bits gather. He doesn’t have any use for money. Celestia lets him stay at the castle so that’s food and residence taken care of.

There’s also a massive library where he can freely take books to read. With no technology matching what humans have there isn’t a need to buy games or stuff like that. All the things money could’ve bought Anon on his world doesn’t really give him much in this one... Well, again, that’s mostly thanks to Celestia. Though given how much money the shop makes, he’d be able to pay simple bills like that ten times over. Anon finds his mind returning to what is planned for tonight.

“So when is the party tonight?”

“It should be around eight.”

“I’ll be ready.” Anon decides to check on the front. “I’ll see if Lyra needs some help.”

“Don’t get into trouble this time.”

“I’ll try.”

* * *

Gilda is standing outside of the candy shop in wait. She’s been here for awhile now but hasn’t moved an inch. She doesn’t want to anger that bat pony if she happens to be watching her right now.

“So you’re ready to meet Anon?”

Gilda snaps to reality as she finds the bat pony in front of her.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Alright. I just want to remind you that if you make any threatening moves towards Anon, I’ll break your wings and toss you off the edge of Canterlot to see if you can fly.”

Gilda shivers some as Blossom looks her dead in the eyes.

“Yeah, I get it.”

“Good, now stick next to me and keep calm.”

Blossom takes the lead as she walks through the front door of Anon’s shop, Gilda not too far behind her. Anon is standing at the front counter with Lyra, the two of them talking about boring business stuff. When the door hits the bell they both look over. Anon is surprised when he finds Blossom standing at the door to his shop.

“Blossom?”

Blossom smiles as she walks up to the front counter with Gilda in tow. Lyra’s eyes instantly lock onto Gilda as she instantly recognises the griffin that threatened Anon, her fur now standing on end. Blossom takes note of this and assumes that Gilda came here looking for Anon first. Makes sense why they got the report about her. Lyra quickly stands onto her hind hooves and pulls Anon down to whisper to him.

At first he looks confused but then slowly that expression falls to a neutral one as his eyes lock onto the griffin. Blossom almost gets the feeling that the air around Anon is colder. He has his guard up. His eyes then instantly lock onto Blossom, a certain questioning look about them. Once they are close enough Anon speaks first.

“Who’s your friend?”

Blossom finds no reason to drag this along.

“No need to beat around the bush. This is the griffin that threatened you. Don’t worry, she knows her place but there’s a reason I brought her here and I’d like to discuss it in private with you.” Blossoms eyes drift over to Lyra. “and only you.”

Lyra quickly reaches up and grabs Anon’s hand. He can see that she’s worried but Anon trusts that Blossom has everything under control. Otherwise she wouldn’t have brought this griffin here. Not to mention that she’s piqued his interest.

“I’ve got the spare time.” Anon rests his other hand on top of Lyra’s hoof as he looks at her. “Hold down the fort, I’ll be right back.”

“I don’t trust that griffin. Please, don’t go.” Lyra pleads.

“I trust Blossom and that’s enough for me. I’ll be fine.”

Lyra lets go of Anon’s hand as he walks past her and towards the stairs.

“My room is plenty private. Please, follow me.”

Lyra has her eyes locked onto Gilda as the three of them walk up the stairs. She really doesn’t want Anon to be alone but she trusts him enough to stay at the front counter until he returns.

* * *

Anon closes the door to the room and turns to face Blossom and the griffon.

“So, what brings you here?”

Blossom jumps onto Anon’s bed to get comfy. Keeping a close eye on Gilda.

“Well, I’m not your mother, talk to him.”

Gilda looks up at the creature before her... He certainly is taller than she remembers. Just looking up at him makes her feel odd, as most ponies are smaller than her. Not to mention that he’s looking at her in a way that reminds her of a griffin. He’s sizing her up, taking in all of her strengths and weaknesses. She can even see how his muscles are tense, ready to react in an instant if need be. She has no idea what this creature is but his entire demeanor tells her that he’s got his guard up. Not that she’s looking for a fight.

“I came to learn about what happened in Ponyville.”

Anon is cautious but what she asks interests him. She wants to know about what happened in Ponyville? He can only assume she’s talking about the elements thing. Which is somewhat largely known but some rural areas probably don’t know of it. Still, why does she want to know?

“Why?”

“I have personal business with one of the elements... I need to know what happened.”

Anon looks over at Blossom. “You didn’t tell her?”

She shrugs. “I thought it would mean a lot more coming from you.”

Anon takes in a deep breath and slowly lets it out.

“I have no time to relive the past. To be honest, I don’t trust you. I’ve heard about the threats you made and the commotion caused in my shop. What right do you have to ask for anything after having threatened my friends?”

Gilda feels her beak click in frustration.

“Just tell me and you’ll never see me again.”

Anon crosses his arms as he looks at this griffon. Something isn’t right here. Blossom brought her to him for a reason. Blossom could’ve easily told her the story. Yet she thought a more personal touch was best. As he looks the griffon in the eyes he notices something vaguely familiar.

“Tell me something.” Anon catches Gilda’s attention. “Why are you sad?”

Anon notices that flash of pain on her face.

“Will you give me what I want if I tell you?”

“It’ll improve your odds.”

“Fine.” Gilda sits on her rump. “It’s complicated... So let’s start when I first went to flight school.”

* * *

Gilda has a frown on her face as she finishes her story. Anon is just sitting there looking at her as he rubs his chin in thought.

“Well, that was an interesting story.” He says. “So, the great Rainbow Dash, element of loyalty, ditched one of her childhood friends without even trying to talk to you?”

Gilda clicks her beak again. “Yeah... That’s about the long and short of it.”

“Well, for being the element of loyalty, she doesn’t seem to know what that means.”

“Right?!” Gilda shouts in frustration. “It was like all the years we spent together meant nothing to her! She had all these friends and I...” Gilda looks at the floor in a brief moment of sadness. “I wasn’t worth keeping around. Maybe I was a jerk but... She didn’t even care enough to find me after I left.”

Anon can see how hurt she is by this. It honestly is a sad thing to hear, considering from her story they were pretty close friends.

“So, you want to hear how Rainbow Dash was punished?”

She locks eyes with Anon. “Yes.”

He shrugs. “Well, I guess it’s only right to share my story. Get comfy because my story is a lot longer than yours.” Gilda sits down and Anon walks over to the bed where Blossom is. He sits beside her as she rests her head on his lap. He strokes her as he thinks over his story. “We’ll start when I first met Rainbow.”

* * *

Celestia sits in her throne bored. A pile of paperwork beside her as she looks over all of the things submitted to her this morning. Taxes, building repairs and so much more. The more she thinks about it the more her mind drifts to Anon. He makes her days feel better just by being by her side. This paperwork would be less about work and more about chatting with him. He always puts her mind at ease when he’s around. She lets out a long sigh, her heart wincing... She misses him, even though he hasn’t been gone for long.

“What has you in a tough spot, Sister?”

Celestia looks up to see Luna standing there. A clear look of worry.

“Just thinking about Anon.”

“Yes, it seems he is all you think of these passing days. A thought I believe we share.”

“I can’t put my hoof on it, Luna... Just having him around makes my days feel brighter. I know he is a good friend but something else is inside of me whenever he’s around. Do you have any idea what it may be?”

Luna looks at Celestia surprised. “Do you feel as if your nerves are on end? Like an attack will come from the shadows?”

“In a way, I guess. It’s like a weight on my chest.”

Luna nods. “Yes, that sounds correct. I thought it was simply an omen for danger.”

Celestia shakes her head. “I do not think so.” Celestia looks a bit frustrated. “I have no idea what it is, Luna. When he is away it is at its strongest but whenever he is near it’s just as strong but not as... painful.”

Luna is stumped too. She understands what her sister feels, as it’s similar to how she feels but she has no idea what it could be.

“A mystery to me, Tia. I know not what this feeling bares on my barrel whenever Anon is around but” She lowers her head as she looks at her hooves for a moment. “I do not want it to go away.”

“That is something I can agree with. It’s comforting in a way, painful as it may be.”

Luna nods. “Little will do good thinking of it. Not to mention that we will be seeing more of Anon on the morrow.”

That thought is enough to lift the mood of both sisters.

“Yes, knowing what comes brings me great joy. There are so many things I wish to show him. Places I want to take him. Do you think he’d like going to the griffin kingdom?”

Luna takes a second to think about that. “Well, as long as one of us is there I’m sure he’d be fine. Do you wish to take him out of Equestria?”

“Just a thought. There’s much of this world he has yet to see and things I wish to experience along side him.”

“There are things I too dream about.” Luna gets that swell in her chest. “Things I wish to show Anon.”

Celestia is about to respond but the door to the throne room opens. Both sisters look over to see Cadance standing there. Luna shakes her thoughts as she turns away from her sister and starts walking towards the door.

“I have things I need to attend to.” Luna stops briefly as she looks at Cadance. “Good to see you, Cadance.”

“Good to see you too.”

Luna walks out of the throne room, closing the door behind her. That talk about Anon has her chest feeling ready to burst. These feeling confuse her so but it comforts her that her sister feels along the same line. Perhaps when they get free time they can discuss in depth and try to solve these feelings.

 _Truly naive._ A voice whispers into Luna’s mind.

Luna waits for Nightmare Moon to say something else but her mind falls silent. She decides to ignore whatever she was talking about and heads back to her room. There are many things she would like to take care of before the party. It’s been awhile since she’s gotten a new dress and she wants to look proper for this upcoming event.

* * *

Anon is looking down at the griffin as she looks to the floor. She remained silent the entire time as he told his story. Not once questioning a single thing he said. She just listened and waited until he was finished.

“So, there you have it. That’s what happened in Ponyville. Not a pleasant story but it happened.”

Silence fills the room as Gilda just sits there looking to the floor. Neither of them moving.

“Tell me your name.” Gilda asks.

“Anon.”

Without looking up, Gilda turns around, walks up and opens the door.

“I’m Gilda.”

That’s all she says as she walks out of the room. He can only sit there looking at the door confused, just before looking down at Blossom.

“That was interesting.”

“Very.” Blossom confirms.

“So, what’s going to happen to her?”

“As long as she keeps her paws off you, then nothing. I’ll be sure to report to Shining about her status so they don’t keep hunting her.”

Anon thinks over his interaction with this griffin. Oddly enough, only a single thought enter his mind.

“She... Seems like a nice person.” Anon says.

“You have a weird way of looking at things.” Blossom chuckles. “She is the griffin that threatened you, remember?”

“Yeah, I know.” He looks down at Blossom. “She just seems lost is all.”

“I get the same feeling. It probably hurts to have a long time friends turn on you so easily.”

Anon falls onto his back as he looks up at the ceiling.

“That was exhausting.” Anon closes his eyes.

Blossom nods. “As much as I’d like to snuggle up, I got work to do. See you later, stud.”

Anon looks down to find Blossom is gone. He quickly looks around the room and doesn’t spot her. She’s fast. Anon rubs his face some just before he looks over at the clock on his wall. Damn, he’s been talking for a while. However, before he leaves he wants to pay a certain pony a visit. Anon raises his hand and snaps his fingers as he falls asleep.

* * *

Cadance is standing before her aunt. She has no idea how to start this conversation but it’s something she must know about. Celestia can see that something is bothering Cadance. She’s been standing at the base of her throne for a while now as she gathers her thoughts.

“Cadance,” Celestia grabs her attention. “You know I’m always here to listen to whatever problems you have.”

Cadance nods her head. It’s true she’s there for her but something like this needs to be dealt with delicately.

“I’m worried about Twilight.” Cadance starts. “She told me some pretty disturbing things yesterday and I think she’s going down a path that may lead to something she’ll regret.”

Celestia can hear how worried Cadance is, so she decides to explore this issue.

“Please, tell me why you’re worried.”

Cadance let’s out a sigh.

“Aunty, I don’t want to offend you or get you mad. So please, don’t take what I say as a slight against you.”

“I’ll keep an open mind.”

“Whatever Twilight did to your friend, that is not something I could ever understand. I don’t deny what she did was wrong but...” Cadance looks up to Celestia with glistening eyes. “She’s beating herself up over gaining your friends forgiveness and believes she deserves all of the hardships that are falling onto her. She made a mistake, can’t we just accept that and move on?”

Celestia’s features fall into a neutral look. This is an issue she thinks about a lot. She would by lying if she didn’t admit that she worries not only for Anon but also Twilight’s well being. That is why she teaches Twilight every single day about what it means to be a pony. It’s hard for her to see how much her student struggles but this is the path she’s taken and all Celestia can do is try and guide her.

“I understand how you feel but you must also consider the feelings of my friend as well. He was put into a horrible situation and not of his own volition. Through these many painful things he’s only just now started to heal. We cannot force him to forgive Twilight, nor would I want to. Something like this should come naturally. I know Twilight is in pain right now but soon this will be nothing more than a faded memory.”

“But what if it doesn’t?” Cadance persists. “What if Twilight keeps spiraling into depression. What if she loses what little she has?”

“I will speak with Twilight, Cadance. I know you’re worried but this isn’t an issue you should push your muzzle into. The situation is volatile and complicating the mix will only spell disaster.” Celestia gets up from her seat. “It’s time for Twilight’s training. I’m sure I can calm her, so don’t worry so much.”

Cadance stands still as Celestia walks past her and out of the throne room. She... She can’t just ignore this. If her aunt won’t help her, then she’ll take this matter into her own hooves. She still has a whole day before the party tomorrow. She needs to think about how to approach Anon and speak with him.

* * *

Nightmare Moon lets out a small groan of pain as she wakes up from her restless slumber. Her eyes drift open as she looks down to her hooves to find that they are bandaged, in fact, it seems that most of the wounds she got from Luna have been mended in one way or another. She looks up to find none other than Anonymous sitting only a few feet from her. Despite her confusion over what is happening, Anon speaks out before any questions enter her mind.

“Why are you hurt?”

While his expression is blank, there’s a certain lilt to his voice that gives off a sense of concern. Nightmare would laugh at the thought of someone caring for her wellbeing if she didn’t know it would hurt. Anon is such a mystery to her. He has no reason to care for her wounds, in fact he has all the reason to leave her where she lies. Ugh... Thinking is giving her a headache.

“Leave me alone.” She winces slightly, even talking hurts.

Anon sits there staring at Nightmare Moon in thought. He had entered her world half an hour ago. When he entered he thought he had fallen into another nightmare like dream but soon found that it was anything but. What he found lying in the abyss of Luna’s mind was Nightmare Moon, covered in various cuts and bruises. He wasn’t sure if it was some kind of trick but when she didn’t respond to his presence he felt worried about what was happening.

He tried to heal her with dream magic but it didn’t work. So the only thing he could manage was summoning a first aid kit and working to clean her wounds and bandaging them up. He has no idea if it even works like that in this place but it was the best he could do, considering her state at the time. Though perhaps it was mostly to make himself feel better.

While working on her he started to notice how different the dreamworld Nightmare Moon is in. The sensations felt in a regular pony dream is almost nonexistent. However, in Nightmare’s world Anon can feel things as if he were awake. It spawns various questions on how this place works and to what extent can things be felt here. It’s enough to give him a headache from the questions alone.

So the real question is why did he help her? Well... Seeing her just laying there made him wonder about her. A once great villain, turned into nothing more than an old memory locked in Luna’s mind. He knows she hurt Luna but that is only one side of the story and seeing her this helpless spurred his actions. She’s an enigma and that currently interests him.

“This world,” Anon looks around. “It’s not like other dreams.” He absent mindedly licks his lips, remembering her kiss. “I can feel things. As I worked on you I could feel your fur, the warmth of your body and even the smell of ozone coming from your mane. Why is this place so different?”

Nightmare has no reason to answer him but she gets the feeling that he won’t leave until his curiosity is satisfied. If anything, talking gives her something to focus on other than the pain.

“The elements locked me in this place.” Nightmare answers. “As a punishment for what I did.”

“So why are you hurt?”

Nightmare keeps her silence. His curiosity is fleeting when compared to the long life Luna will live. She’d rather ignore the question than bring the wrath of that mare onto her. Anon notices her holding back. Well, she can keep her secrets but not speaking gives him a vague idea of what it could be.

“Alright, here’s another question. What’s your story?”

Nightmare rolls her eyes. This again.

“You’ve read the books.”

Anon isn’t going to take that as an answer. There’s something odd about Nightmare Moon. She doesn’t seem as evil as the stories he’s been told, so what’s the reason she’s like this?

“You told me that everyone has a different side to a story. I’m interested in hearing what you have to say about everything that happened. Did you believe that what you did was right?”

Nightmare is finding her patients fading as her head starts to hurt more.

“I owe you nothing. Leave me, your questions are causing my head to ache.”

She does appear to be in rough shape. Perhaps questioning her now isn’t the right thing to do? He gives a short nod as he gets up and summons a door to her world. Giving her time to heal should put her in a better mood, at least that’s what he wants to believe.

“I’ll be back tomorrow. Get well soon.”

Anon walks out of her world before she could say anything. Nightmare is left in the abyss of Luna’s mind. She opens her eyes and looks down at her bandages hooves once more.

“Such an odd creature.”

She just lets out a sigh as she tries to get some sleep. Maybe she’ll feel better once she wakes up.

* * *

“So, how do I look?” Luna asks Blossom as she gives a small twirl.

“As smooth as the moon’s glow.”

“Come now, Blossom. I brought you along to give me an honest opinion. I want this dress to look perfect for Anon’s party.”

Blossom rolls her eyes as she walks around Luna and takes her in from all angles. The dress itself isn’t anything special but she gets the feeling that’s the intended design. Dark blue color, stockings on her hooves, her mane in its natural state and some makeup here and there. It almost looks like Luna is dressed more for a date than a simple party.

“Don’t you think you’re a bit overdressed? This is just a party afterall.”

“A celebration of my friends success. It only feels right to dress up for the occasion.”

Blossom just shrugs as she looks over the dress again.

“Shorten the tail drift. Modern design allows more leg to show.”

Luna nods as she casts a spell to shorten the skirt of her dress. Luna looks herself over in the mirror. She really hopes Anon likes the way she looks. Luna instantly feels her face redden as that feeling inside of her returns. She hesitantly looks over at Blossom as she looks over some designs on the wall. Perhaps she could prove insightful on these odd feelings she’s been feeling?

“Blossom, may I confide in you?”

Blossom looks over at Luna with a raised brow.

“Sure. It should go without saying.”

Luna still feels that blush on her muzzle as she tries to think of the right words to say to her.

“Blossom. For awhile now I’ve been having these odd feelings inside of me. It’s like a pressure in my chest and it only seems to happen whenever I think of Anon. Do you have any idea what it could mean? I mistook it for a bad omen but my sister too has this feeling and didn’t feel it was a sign of troubling times ahead.”

As Blossom listens she can’t help the smirk growing on her face. A knowing look now clear on her face.

“So you feel like this when Anon is around?” Luna nods. “Tell me what else you feel when he’s around.”

Luna takes a deep breath as she closes her eyes, thinking about all the things she feels.

“It’s so complicated. I feel happy when he’s around, yet my breaths shallow whenever he’s close. When we embrace I feel as if the world slows, allowing me to enjoy the small details about him that I’ve grown accustom to. How he trembles slightly whenever we hold one another, like he wishes to pull away but stays as he settles his head onto my withers. The scent of his musk, the rhythmic beat of his heart, all of it puts my soul at ease. I fill with joy whenever I can share a piece of myself with him because I know it means we will grow closer. It’s just so many things, Blossom. I cannot even begin to understand the seemingly endless feelings he stirs within me.”

“So you love him?” Blossom asks.

Luna’s eyes snap open as she looks at Blossom surprised.

“L-Love?”

Blossom nods. “Yeah. You love Anon. Don’t you?”

Luna gulps hard as that word enters her mind. She loves Anon? Like, more than a friend?

“I-I don’t know, Blossom. Truly I’ve never thought of it before.”

“If I were to tell you he was taken, how would that make you feel?”

Luna feels the fur on her entire body stand up.

“No pony could be trusted with something so precious.” Luna speaks. “They’d never understand him as much as I do. They’d never care for him like I could.”

“So doesn’t that mean you love him?”

An eerie silence fills the room for a few minutes.

“Blossom. May I have a few minutes alone?”

“Sure.”

Blossom walks out of the room. She has a feeling she just stirred something up. Luna is left with that feeling in her chest. Yet it doesn’t feel like it did before. Now, it feels lighter, as if she has an understanding of what it means. S-She loves Anon... It shouldn’t come as a surprise but it does. Not only that but her sister feels the same way about him. Luna looks herself over in the mirror. After the party she will speak with her sister about this. She’s not sure what will happen but there’s one thing she knows, she won’t lose Anon to any mare.


	19. Revelation P2

Anon is standing before his staff as he looks over the kitchen. Everything is spotless. He looks down to the few ponies before him as they look toward him with eager eyes. Each of them showing various stages of exhaustion but overall they’re still alert.

“I have to say I’m proud of you all.” He says causing them to flinch from the sudden noise. “It’s been a tough climb for many of you but this is just the beginning. Tomorrow is when you all gain the full responsibility of this kitchen. I won’t be looking over your shoulder anymore. That will be left in the hooves of Little Dipper.” Anon looks over to the somewhat filly sized mare that he chose to be head chef and gives her a small nod. “The continued success of this business is in your hooves.”

“We won’t fail you!” Little Dipper says with a large smile.

“I would hope not.” Anon looks over all the ponies before him. “Your bits have been deposited into your banks. Enjoy your weekend. Come monday, you’ll be in charge of this kitchen.”

That’s all that needs to be said as everypony burst out into joyous shouts. Many of them hugging one another, while a few just cry to themselves. Anon has put them through hell. There were many ponies that signed up and through an elimination process that would’ve make chef Ramsay proud, few remained. Anon can tell that they feel as if they accomplished something huge. Ponies are odd like that.

Anon looks down as Little Dipper walks up to him.

“Thank you, sir. I’ll be sure to maintain the quality you’ve taught us.”

“There’s a reason I made you head chef, Dipper. You’ve shown a respect for the ingredients and how to handle them. I think you’re going to do well here.”

She gives him a nod as she walks over to talk to Bonbon. A few more ponies come up to give thanks to Anon and also assure him they would keep his standards in this place. This entire thing is starting to make him feel weird but he bears with it as it’s just this one time. However as all ponies start to head off from work Anon notices Butterhooves is standing at his station deep in thought. He glances over to Bonbon as she waves a hoof for him to go talk to him.

Anon rolls his eyes as he heads on over to see what’s going on with Butterhooves. Once Anon is standing next to him he notices that Hooves is holding a small wooden spoon. It looks weathered and isn’t from his the kitchen.

“You alright there?” Anon asks.

Hooves snaps out of his trance like state and quickly puts the spoon into the pocket on his saddle bag. He looks up at Anon with slightly glistening eyes. This is an uncomfortable situation for Anon to be in. He can sense an emotional rollercoaster from a mile away.

“Do you really think I’m ready?” Butterhooves asks.

Anon lets out a sigh. “To be honest, Hooves. I wouldn’t trust you with throwing out the trash.” Butterhooves starts to look down but Anon quickly adds. “But you’re a fine cook. I have no idea how you do it but I suggest you stick to cooking. It seems to be just your speed.”

A smile now grows on Hooves’ face as he looks up at Anon.

“Thank you, Sir.”

Before Anon can walk away he feels Butterhooves latch onto him in a hug.

“Hooves?”

“Yes?”

“I’m still your boss.”

Hooves realises what he’s doing and quickly lets go of Anon.

“S-Sorry... Just excited about everything.”

“Don’t mention it. Now head on home. Monday will start sooner than you think.”

Butterhooves gives a nod as he walks out of the kitchen. Anon is soon left in the kitchen with only Bonbon. He lets out a sigh of relief as he turns to face her.

“Ponies get too emotional.”

“You’re one to talk.” Bonbon remarks.

“...Right... Anyways, when’s this party happening?”

“In an hour or so. Lyra and I need time to get everything ready. You’re free to do whatever until then.”

“An hour alone... What to do?”

Anon walks towards the kitchen door but pauses when Bonbon calls out to him.

“Make sure you wear that suit to the party. I’m sure Lyra will be thrilled.”

Lyra thrilled. That doesn’t sound like a good thing to him but he’s willing to bend a bit due to the circumstance.

“Sure... Later, Bonbon.”

“See you.”

* * *

“Luna, calm down.”

“I cannot calm myself, Blossom! It all makes sense now!”

Blossom is sitting on Luna’s bed, listening to her while she paces around the room talking. Ever since Blossom made Luna realise her feelings she was quickly pulled back into the room so Luna could ramble on about what would happen next.

“Not to mention that I believe my sister feels the same way.” Luna adds. “I do not wish for us to fight over him but losing Anon to her isn’t an option either.”

“You won’t lose him. Anon cares about you two. If anything, I find the real problem is convincing Anon into a relationship of any kind.”

Luna stops pacing as she turns to face Blossom.

“What do you mean?”

“Well... He just doesn’t seem like the kind of stallion to be interested in a relationship. Obviously I can’t speak for him, Tartarus, you know him better than I ever could but do you think he’d be open to dating?”

Luna opens her mouth but quickly shuts it as she turns away from Blossom in thought. The various memories she shares with Anon don’t point to any definitive answer. In fact, Blossom in many ways is right. Due to his trust issues and wariness of ponies, he’d probably be the most reluctant to get so emotionally close to someone. Yet... Luna wishes to believe that if anypony can make him feel safe enough to explore something romantic, it would be her!

“I know Anon is skittish but I believe if anypony has even the slimmest of chances, that pony is me.”

Blossom nods. “You or your sister.”

“Yes... my sister. ” Luna sits on her rump as she holds her head with her hooves. “What am I to do about her? I want to talk to her about our feelings but I feel that if I am not to strike while the iron is hot then I may lose my chance forever.”

“I can’t tell you what’s wrong or right, Luna... However, I may have an idea.”

Luna looks up to Blossom with a slight glimmer of hope in her eyes.

“Any idea is wanted at this point, Blossom.”

Blossom lets out a sigh as she hops off Luna’s bed and walks over to her.

“Alright... So here’s my plan.”

* * *

Canterlot doesn’t have much going on. Anon walked around for a bit, checked a few things in a store. Decided not to go pay the sisters a visit as he didn’t want to get dragged off to do something and miss the party. So for the most part he’s just been taking it easy. There were a few stores that had some interesting items that made him think about the sisters. They threw him a birthday party but when is theirs? There’s still a lot Anon doesn’t know about those two.

Sure, he knows some stuff about Luna but nothing that far back. His brain probably would’ve exploded if he took in her lifespan of memories. Now that Anon thinks about it... He doesn’t remember Celestia ever asking him to join her for a birthday party. He’s known Celestia for about a year now and yet she’s never once mentioned her birthday. Then again, neither did Anon but it seems like a celebration ponies like to partake in. Hmmm... Perhaps this would be a great time for some information gathering? If he can find out when Celestia and Luna’s birthday is, then he can surprise them with a party.

Now that sounds like a perfect revenge plan for the party they threw him. However, that’ll have to wait. All that info is probably in the royal library and it’s already getting around that time for Anon to show up at the shop.

* * *

Back at the shop, Anon can hear work being done in the kitchen. So he walks up to his room and gets dressed in the suit he wore when Pinkie took him out to meet Maud. Once he’s all clean and looking presentable, Anon walks down the stairs and to the kitchen door. Knocking on it a few times.

“Is everything ready?” Anon looks over at a clock to see that he’s just on time.

“Perfect timing.” Lyra says. “Come in.”

Anon walks into the kitchen and pauses slightly at the scene before him. The lights are off, candles placed around to give a soft glow to the room, a single circular table with three chairs, two sitting side by side and one on the other side. Anon’s eyes drift over to Bonbon and Lyra as they stand beside the table. The both of them in dresses. Lyra has a huge smile on her face but Bonbon doesn’t look happy.

Red flags are going off in Anon’s head. Something is going on here and he doesn’t like it.

“I have to say... I wasn’t expecting this when you invited me to a party.” Anon says breaking the silence.

“Well, it’s a small party between adults.” Lyra says giggling slightly. “No need for streamers or balloons.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

Anon still doesn’t feel comfortable. The fact that Bonbon is emotionally blank is alarming in its own way.

“Please, take a seat!” Lyra quickly pulls out the single chair.

“Thank you?” Anon says as he walks over and takes his seat.

Lyra and Bonbon sit across from him. Anon takes notice that Bonbon is avoiding eye contact and Lyra has her sights glued on him. This entire situation stinks and it’s not doing his paranoia any good. They brought him here for some specific reason and it has nothing to do with this party. Just playing the waiting game isn’t an option for him right now. He needs to know what’s happening. For all he knows it could just be his imagination.

“I’ll be the first to say that something isn’t right here.” Anon looks between the two. “I am open to having a party between the three of us but something is unsettling me. So, what’s this all about?”

Anon watches as Lyra elbows Bonbon. She looks over at Lyra and shakes her head. The two of them leaning close as they whisper to one another. The thing is that Anon can hear them as clear as day.

“I can’t do this, Lyra. Let’s call this off while we’re still ahead.”

“What?! He’s already sitting here. We talked about this.”

Bonbon looks down at the floor again. Anon can feel his frustration in this situation. It’s not just his paranoia, something is going on. He clears his throat loudly to grab both of their attentions.

“The only reason I am as calm as I am is because we know each other so well. However, my patience is starting to fade quickly.”

Lyra chuckles nervously as Bonbon looks to the floor once again.

“W-Well... We were going to ask you this after dinner but I guess now is a good time too.” Lyra clears her throat as she looks Anon in the eyes. “Anon... Would you like to be our stallion?”

“Your... stallion?” Anon asks, confused by what she means.

“I-It means we want to make a herd with you...” Bonbon comes in.

A herd? Why does that sound so familiar? Anon can feel his mind drift back to horses from earth. They had herds but that can’t possibly be what they are asking him, right?

“Let me see if I got this right... Are you two asking me to be your boyfriend?”

Lyra nods happily.

“Basically!” Lyra says. “Though we call it coltfriend.”

There’s a moment of silence where no one says a single thing. Anon’s just sitting there looking at them as they look back. However, what happens next isn’t what either of them were expecting. Anon is starting to laugh. At first it was a few chuckles but then it turned into full blown laughter. Bonbon has a bad feeling about this. It’s not like he’s laughing from joy but laughing in pain.

“I can’t believe this.” He whispers to himself as he gets out of his seat and walks towards the kitchen door. Lyra tries to reach out to stop him but he swipes her hoof away. “Don’t touch me!”

Bonbon can only sit there and look at the back of Anon as he breaths heavily. She can see he’s trembling slightly, as if he can’t handle the emotions inside of him. However, all of that disappears as he straightens up and turns back to face the two. His face blank, not a single emotion in his eyes.

“I knew something like this would happen sooner or later. I told you two how I felt and I thought you’d respect that but I was wrong. Not that I blame you, I see now that there’s a problem here that only I can fix.” Bonbon notices as he bites his lip slightly. “I don’t want to see either of you again.”

Hearing those words come from his mouth in such a dead tone is enough to shock both Lyra and Bonbon. They didn’t even notice as Anon quickly leaves the shop, heading towards the castle.

* * *

Celestia lets out a large yawn as she collapses onto her bed exhausted. Her day has been rough. First Cadance, then Twilight. She tried her best to get her student to open up about her problems but she remained silent on the matter. Not to mention Celestia feels lonely without Anon here. She lets out a sad sigh as she throws her blanket on her, turns off all the lights and tries to fall asleep. Yet she feels something keeping her from resting.

She hears the door to her room open as she sits up and looks over to see who it could be. The light from the hall obscures his face but Celestia knows only one creature to stand as he does.

“Anon, I thought you were at work?” She asks.

Anon doesn’t say anything as he walks over to her bedside.

“Tia... I’m going to ask a favor.”

Celestia immediately can feel the tension in the room. Something happened to Anon.

“A-Anything.”

Anon stays silent for a minute. She still can’t see past the shadows covering his face but she knows he’s thinking hard about something.

“Lay down.” Celestia raises a brow as she lays down facing him. “Turn around.”

Celestia does as he says but is confused as to why he’s asking her to do this.

“Is there a reason you want me li-”

Celestia freezes as she feels Anon hold her in a strong embrace from behind.

“Just stay like this, please.”

She wants nothing more than to face him and understand what has him so down but this is what he wants for now. She can only feel relieved by the fact that he has come to her for comfort. So until daybreak, her questions will have to wait.

“Ok.” Celestia whispers as she closes her eyes.

Anon is holding Celestia tightly as he grits his teeth together. It was bound to happen sooner or later. It didn’t end the way Anon would’ve wanted but this is for the best. If he’s the problem, then the only way to fix it is to move on. He closes his eyes and tries his best to bury his memory away for the night.

* * *

Nightmare Moon’s eyes open as she scans the void. Something isn’t right. She stands up and looks around a bit more before she understands what she’s feeling. Ever since that naive mare Luna discovered her feelings for that human, Nightmare has been flooded with many different emotions and various thoughts. It’s been annoying to say the least but that isn’t the reason she’s awake. No, something outside of her room is causing a disturbance. One that Luna cannot sense.

Nightmare summons her door that links to Luna’s dream room. She opens it and sticks her head inside. Her head enters into the hallway and she looks around. Nothing but doors to the left but as she looks over to the right she notices a black fog covering a nearby door. It seems that somepony is having a nightmare. She looks closer at the door and instantly recognises it... That’s the human’s door.

Filled with curiosity, Nightmare uses magic to check on Luna’s attention and finds she’s still busy with various things. Good, she can walk freely. Nightmare exits her room and walks over to Anon’s door. She should be able to maintain her form here for a few minutes before being forced back to the void. She has to admit that this fog is rather thick, must be a strong nightmare.

“What is it that you fear?” Nightmare asks with a smirk as she touches her hoof to the door.

In a split second Nightmare tears her hoof off the door panting heavily. Her eyes are wide and her heart is racing a mile a minute. She backs a few steps away from the door before she comes to her senses. She takes a deep breath to calm herself and leers at the door. She has a sneer on her face as she walks back up to the door and places her hoof on it once more.

“I’m only repaying a debt.” She says to herself as she tears the fog from his door, clearing the nightmare with ease. “We’re even now.”

With that said she can feel the tug of the void... So without pause, she walks back to her room to finally rest.


	20. Harsh truths P1

Celestia awakes as her internal clock tells her that it’s time to raise the sun. She can feel a large smile on her face as she remembers Anon coming last night to her bed. She turns over quickly to face him but finds her bed empty. Her brow is raised as she looks about the room. Nothing is disturbed other than the side Anon was on. If it weren’t for his scent, Celestia would assume him being here was nothing more than a dream.

She wants to check on him, to make sure he’s OK, but she already knows that something is bothering him and his absence is a sign that he wishes to be left alone. Though if he is not back tonight for the party, she will not give him that peace. She worries, but she doesn’t want to baby him. Though she would be lying if she didn’t admit that it hurts her deeply to hold her hoof and allow him to deal with the problems he wishes to keep to himself.

He must live his own life but the thought of somepony hurting him is almost too much for her to bear. She hopes that what he faces can be solved without her help and that he will feel better when all's said and done. However, if he is not, then she will be there to comfort him through his trying times. Celestia lets out a long sigh as she gets up from her bed and gets ready to start the day.

She must assure that everything is in order for his party. Perhaps that will help ease her worry for the day.

* * *

Anon is sitting at the park alone. He watches in silence as the sun raises into the sky. It was stupid of him to go back to the castle. There’s no doubt in his mind that Celestia is worried about him after what happened last night. She already has enough things to worry about in her life and he doesn’t want to add his own problems to that list. Though why he came to the park is for reasons other than being close to Tia.

He had a dream that confuses him deeply. It’s vague but he remembers being afraid. Without a doubt it was another nightmare. He hasn’t had one of those in a while, mostly thanks to the sisters but this was an exception it seems. That’s not the thing that confuses him. He remembers vividly that Nightmare Moon came to save him. It couldn’t have been the actual Nightmare, as he knows she’s trapped in Luna’s mind... Still, why her and not one of the sisters?

His mind is scrambled. The events of yesterday are still fresh in his mind. He knows he did the right thing but feels as if he could’ve done it better. Anon can hear hoof clops in the distance coming towards him. Despite what he did, he’s not the same person he was once before, there are many things he runs from but this isn’t one of them. Anon looks up to see Bonbon trotting up to him, a panicked look on her face.

“I-I got your letter.”

This is another reason why he’s in the park. To make sure everything is on the level.

“Take a seat.” Anon waves to the empty spot on the bench.

Bonbon walks over and sits beside him. She’s breathing heavily, Anon can only guess she ran here after reading his letter. Anon looks off onto the horizon once again as they fall into silence.

“Anon I want to start off b-”

“Do you love me?” Anon asks.

Bonbon stops as she hears his question. She closes her muzzle as she looks down at the ground. She takes a long breath in before letting it out. Well, she’s not surprised that he’s getting to the point. There’s no reason to lie to him about how she feels.

“I care about you, Anon. I truly do... but, no. I don’t love you.”

Anon keeps looking off into the distance, never turning to face Bonbon. It’s just as he thought. He could tell that something was wrong when he was in the moment. Just the way Bonbon acted was enough to tip him off on the fact that she wasn’t as enthusiastic as Lyra was.

“Lyra talked you into what happened yesterday.” He states.

Bonbon looks up to Anon as he continues to face the horizon. She doesn’t know how to explain what happened. She knew it wasn’t going to end the way Lyra wanted and yet she still went through with her plan.

“I didn’t want that to happen but, bu-”

“Bonbon, I understand.”

A small silence builds between the two for a moment. He understands? How can he understand?

“What do you mean?”

Anon turns to face Bonbon as her eyes start glistening. This is why he brought her here, to help her understand.

“I can’t blame you for what you did, Bonbon. I know how much you love Lyra. She means the world to you. You want her to be happy and that’s understandable. It’s true that you broke my trust,” Bonbon turns away from him but Anon uses a hand to bring her back to facing him. “But I believe you did it for a good reason.” Anon lets go of her as he faces forward and looks up at the sky. “You’re still my friend and I care about what makes you happy.”

“Then why did you say those awful things?!” Bonbon shouts in frustration.

Silence grows as Anon tries to find the right words to say.

“The best solution to making you happy is by not being in your life right now.”

“How would that make me happy?”

Anon can only sigh to himself as he gets ready to lay out the truth.

“I do not love you or Lyra and I will not force myself to do so. We talked about this before. You promised me that it was just a phase and that given time she would forget about her feelings. Well, now we know how far she’s willing to take things and I will not stand for it. I care too much about you and her to allow it to happen any longer. It was my fault to let it go on as long as I have.”

Bonbon looks down to see Anon has his fists clenched, shaking in anger but his face shows no indication that he’s upset. She decides to stay silent for now and let him speak.

“I don’t hate Lyra but the fact she would actually manipulate you makes me sick.” Anon brings up a hand to his head to stop a flood of thoughts. “I can only imagine what you two talked about. I’m probably assuming the worst but that doesn’t matter anymore.” He takes a deep breath in to steady his thoughts. He can’t go off topic right now. He needs to get this over with.

“I’m doing this for you, Bonbon. To put a stop to this game the only way I know how. I wish that things would’ve worked out differently than they did but I don’t regret the outcome.” Anon gets up from the bench and looks down at Bonbon. “We’ll still be in touch, I’ll send recipes as they come to mind and check up on the store every so often.” He takes in a deep breath and exhales. “However, if we pass by each other on the street, I don’t know you and you don’t know me.”

This can’t be happening right now. Bonbon knows she can figure out some way to make this work.

“Anon, you don’t have to do this. I’m sure we can expla-”

“Bonbon, this is the only option. It’s harsh, cruel even but I will not allow myself to be a wedge in your relationship.” Anon can see Bonbon trying to think of something to say or an idea to make it work out. Anon just rests his hand on her head. “You’re a good friend, Bonbon. We’ve done a lot over the years. The store is a success, you don’t have to worry about money. Everything is perfect.”

“It’s not perfect if you’re not there!” Tears are finally falling down her face as her mind draws a blank. “You can’t sacrifice what makes you happy because things get rough! We can work this out!”

A ghost of a smile appears on Anon’s face. “You can’t make everyone happy, not with something like this.” Anon turns away and starts walking towards the castle. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, Bonbon. I don’t know how long it’ll take but one day everything will be just fine.”

Anon doesn’t hear Bonbon move from her seat. Even as he hits the streets of Canterlot, the only thing he hears is a scream of frustration from the distance. It’ll hurt but he knows this is the only solution. He hopes that they’ll meet again soon and Lyra will be better. For now, he has other things he needs to worry about.

* * *

Luna wakes up with a groan. She didn’t get much sleep last night. Blossom and her were talking the entire time. The plan she came up with makes her nervous but she knows it’s without a doubt the best solution. However, the plan will have to wait till later tonight. Luna looks over to her dresser to see her dress resting on top. A smile grows on her muzzle as her heart flutters. Anon’s party. She can’t wait to get things started, for a whole new adventure awaits him.

* * *

Twilight yawns as the morning sun comes through the window and rests on her face. She sits up and looks around the room, she fell asleep at the library again. She vaguely remembers Celestia coming to talk to her. Twilight’s gaze falls to the book she was using as a pillow.

_Understanding forgiveness_

A snarl grows on her face as she tosses the book off the desk. Her anger quickly turns into sadness as she rests her head in her hooves and starts to weep. She can’t do this anymore. This crushing feeling inside of her is overwhelming. She feels so alone, vulnerable and scared. It doesn’t matter who looks at her, they all have the same judgemental eyes. Even Cadance had a certain look that Twilight couldn’t ignore. She doesn’t feel safe anywhere. Even this library is little more than a prison at this point.

Not only that, but all she has is Spike and she knows he’d give her the same look if he found out what she did. It makes her sick to her stomach to even think of what that would be like to see her oldest friend look at her like she’s a monster! She doesn’t know who to turn to. It’s as if she has no pony in the world that can help her.

Her eyes widen as she sits up in thought. Is this how Anon felt this entire time? So helpless? As if the entire world was against him? The pain in her heart grows as that thought comes to mind. More tears trailing down her face. This is how he felt for so many years? She looks about the library, as if the entire world had just changed. This is why he locked himself away. To not let anything hurt him anymore.

Twilight covers her head as a flood of emotions fill her mind. Everything that is happening to her now is nothing more than poetic justice. She deserves this and so much more. She’s a monster! What’s the point of seeking forgiveness when she’s already tainted? Yeah... Twilight’s hooves rest onto the table as she blankly looks at the table. She’s tainted. There’s no salvation for ponies like her.

Twilight moves away from the table and walks towards the library door. Spike walks in just before Twilight can open it and is surprised to see she’s already awake. Celestia told him that Twilight was really tired and needed some time alone, so he decided to check up on her early in the morning.

“Hey, Twilight. Are you heading over for breakfast?” He asks.

Twilight doesn’t even respond to him as she walks past. Spike is disturbed by the zombie like look on her face as she walks into the hallway and off towards her room. He can only guess she’s still tired from everything that’s been going on. Though he can’t fight this strange feeling that something is wrong with Twilight. Sure, they’re not in Ponyville right now but he knows it’ll all go back to normal eventually. Right?

* * *

Anon is walking down the streets of Canterlot. No place really in mind, just walking along to clear his head. Forgetting about what happened is not an option. He needs to remain vigilant, this is for the sake of Bonbon’s relationship. So he must be certain about his actions. He doesn’t love Lyra, at all. He even has a hard time trusting her when he’s alone. He knows she means well but she can also push boundaries. Thankfully it never got physical but perhaps that’s only due to his resistance.

“I gotta say,” Anon jumps slightly as he looks beside him to see Blossom. “What you did was really brave.”

After catching his breath he scoffs a bit at the thought.

“I was anything but brave, Blossom. I undoubtedly broke the heart of two ponies with this decision.”

“And I know very few ponies who could do the same thing. You did it for the right reasons and I respect that a lot.”

“If you say so.”

Anon stops in his tracks as Blossom flies in front of him. There’s a deep level of understanding in her eyes about what he did.

“Seriously, Anon. It took a lot of guts to just come out and say what needed to be said. Even if it hurt your friends, you did it for the right reasons.” Blossoms lands in front of Anon. “Listen, I know how hard it is to deal with stuff like this on your own. I can easily tell that you keep a lot of this stuff from the sisters because you care about them. So, how about you talk to someone that you can trust?”

“Who can I trust?” Anon asks with a skeptical looks.

“You can trust me.” Blossom states with confidence.

“Your loyalties lie with Luna. What’s to stop you from telling her every little thing we talk about?”

Blossom scoffs. “I know how to keep secrets and I know when to tell them. If I fear that whatever you say to me may cause you or another pony harm, I have to do my best to protect you, even from yourself. However, I know when things are said in jest and deep personal secrets that harm no one will never leave my lips.”

Anon doesn’t know what to think about an arrangement like this. Blossom so far has gone above and beyond her station to help him. The whole Nightmare Moon thing, she could’ve easily just told Luna about that or flatout refused to watch him. Not to mention what happened in the dining hall, as well as the thing with Gilda. If anything, she’s probably been doing a lot of things off the book for his sake. It’s so weird for Anon to trust a pony so quickly but Blossom has never shown any signs of deceit. She’s always straightforward with him.

It admittedly does sound nice to get some of the things he knows off his chest. Still, he can’t let this be one sided or else he wouldn't accept it.

“I’ll agree, on one condition.”

Blossom raises an eyebrow. “What’s the condition?”

“We exchange secrets. You tell me something you’ve never told anyone and I’ll do the same.”

Anon notices the fur on Blossom stand on edge.

“I see... There are things you have yet to tell the sisters?”

Anon chuckles hollowly. “Sure is.”

“Why?”

“That’s not how this works, Blossom. I won’t speak a word of it until you tell me your secret.”

Blossom locks eyes with Anon for a moment. “Then we are in agreement that everything between us stays private?”

“You have my word, as long as you keep yours. Then again, that’s why we’ll be sharing stories. You spill mine, I spill yours.”

Blossom smirks some. “You’re rather devious when given the chance.”

“I have my moments. So, what’s it gonna be?”

Blossom turns on her hooves, walking away from Anon without a word. From what he can tell she’s not leading him towards the castle but he can tell she’s made her decision so he’ll follow her to see where this goes.

* * *

Nightmare has been looking at the hoof she used to clear Anon’s nightmare. It feels tainted by his dream. A nightmare she has never experienced before but one she knows all too well. She grits her teeth as she slams her hoof down in anger. Why did she help him!? She owes him nothing! What that fool did was of his own doing and she was not indebted to him for his actions! Yet, despite her anger, her eyes drift over to the bandage that is still snug on her foreleg.

She doesn’t understand him. Even with Luna’s memories she cannot fathom his thoughts. Not to mention that nightmare he had. She lets out a snort of frustration. She doesn’t want to waste thought on him any longer. She needs her rest, clearing his nightmare took a lot out of her. As Nightmare lays her head to rest, she can feel the inkling of something from the void.

She’s not too sure what it is but she gets the feeling that things are going to get interesting soon.

* * *

Blossom is standing before a house she hasn’t seen in a long time. She would’ve prefered leaving it as the relic it is but if she wants privacy then there is no better place.

“Is this your house?” Anon asks surprised that Blossom has a home.

“Not anymore. I haven’t used it in decades.”

Blossom walks up the short set of stairs leading to the front door. It’s been awhile but she’s sure it’s still here. She kicks the hoofmat below her to reveal a key. As she picks it up, it leaves an imprint of dust, showing the undisturbed nature of its location.

“I’m surprised no one tried to break in.” Anon remarks.

“Just look at this place. Most ponies probably think it’s haunted.” Blossom remarks.

Anon never really gave the house more than a passing glance but it does have an odd look to it. The white walls have faded over time, all the glass is covered in dust and there are a few cracks here and there in the woodwork. It looks abandoned but not in total disarray. He’s seen worse on earth but then again these are ponies. So it’s probably scary to them.

“I guess.”

“Come inside, excuse the mess.”

Anon doesn’t say anything as he walks past Blossom as she closes the door. Everything goes completely black as Anon hears Blossom walk past him.

“Follow me.”

“Blossom.”

He hears her hoofsteps stop.

“Yeah?”

“It’s pitch black in here.”

He hears her chuckle a bit. “Oh yeah, I forget most creatures can’t see in the dark.”

Anon stands in wait as Blossom walks past him and off into the distance. It’s quick but Anon hears shuffling to his left and a small ray of light pierce the darkness. He looks over to see Blossom using her wing to clear the dust from one of the front windows. She’s standing in what appears to be a living room of sorts. Despite all the dust, Anon can tell that everything in here has been untouched by time.

As Blossom continues to let in more light, the more Anon sees. It’s odd that the outside of her home had some wear and tear but there’s nothing wrong with the inside. If Anon had to guess he’d assume that magic had something to do with how pristine all the items inside are.

“It’s been awhile since I last cleaned these windows.” Blossom opens the window to get some fresh air inside. “I’d be embarrassed but it’s not like this place is home anymore.”

Anon doesn’t say anything as he clears the couch of dust and takes a seat. It’s high quality from what he can tell, almost as good as the couches in the castle. Anon glances about the room. What he first notices is all the frames on the walls, yet he cannot see who’s in them, as the layer of dust throughout the house covers them. He can only guess they are family related.

“It’s interesting to see how well the inside held up.” Anon runs a finger over the armrest on the couch. “Other than the dust.”

“Yeah, some ponies that go on extended vacation use a spell to keep everything in order.” She chuckles slightly as she takes a seat next to Anon. “It wears off after awhile. That’s why this place is covered in dust. Never mind that, we’re here for a reason.”

Anon gives a nod. “I guess small talk can wait for later.” Anon looks around. “Private, secluded. I think this place will work just fine.”

Blossom nods. “My thoughts exactly.” Blossom leans into her couch a bit. “So, let’s talk.”

* * *

Luna has a skip in her step as she trots down the hallway. She stops briefly to look out a window that overlooks the garden. Flowers are in bloom, birds are chirping merrily as they fly about from tree to tree.

“Such a lovely day to be alive!” She says with glee as she whispers to herself. “A perfect day to be in love.”

“What has you in a good mood, Sister?”

Luna flinches slightly as she looks behind to see her sister standing there. Luna blushes some as she clears her throat. She must be careful with what she says out in the open.

“Nothing much, sister. It’s simply a beautiful day. Do you not agree?”

Celestia raises a brow at her sister.

“Well, the days are always beautiful, as are the nights. What makes this day special?”

“Well...” Luna would like to talk to her sister about the why but that must wait until the party. She knows her sister isn’t great at controlling how she feels. “It’s the day of Anon’s party of course! Such a day should be celebrated in its entirety.”

“Oh, yes... Forgive me, court has scrambled my thoughts a bit.”

Not entirely true, Celestia spent most of that time worrying over Anon and what happened last night.

“You could’ve called for me if it was too much of a burden.” Luna reminds her.

“Yes, I know but I had a lot on my mind.”

Now that Luna gives her sister a once over, she looks tired, as if something has run her mind ragged.

“Are you troubled by something, Tia?” She asks worried.

“No, it's just...” Celestia lets out a long sigh. She can’t keep this from her sister. Perhaps she can even help? “May we talk in private?”

Luna doesn’t hesitate. “Of course!”

Celestia smiles some. “Thank you. Let’s not stand here waiting.”

* * *

“Alright... So where to begin.” Blossom rubs under her chin in thought.

“This house, probably.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

Anon notices as Blossom looks around a certain glint in her eye appears. A look Anon has never seen from Blossom before.

“This place has a lot of memories.” Blossom remarks.

She looks over to a small stand next to her that has a frame on top of it. She picks it up and tosses it over to Anon. Anon catches it and looks over at Blossom. She nods her head to it and he clears off the dust and looks at the photo inside the frame. His eyebrows raise in surprise. It’s Blossom, she looks almost exactly the same as she does now, with a few exception, such as less noticeable crow's feet under her eyes and a bit more toned appearance.

That’s not all he notices. There’s also an earth pony standing beside her, his foreleg over her withers, an embarrassed look on Blossom’s face and a large smile on his. The two of them decked out in full plate armor. As Anon examines the photo closer, he even catches what appears to be a battalion of ponies behind them as they march on towards the horizon.

“That photo was taken a few weeks before our battle with the griffins.” Anon looks over to see Blossom looking off into the distance. “The pony beside me was named Sweeping Gales.”

 _Was._ That’s the word Anon focuses in on. He can already draw an idea of what this is all about, though admittedly a vague one.

“He died?” Anon asks.

Blossom smiles slightly. “No but I wish he had.”

* * *

Celestia and Luna are now sitting in their seats. The two of them even went so far as to combined a privacy spell to ensure that nothing could hear them. Luna can tell that whatever her sister wishes to speak with her about is a serious problem indeed.

“We are disconnected from the outside. So what’s bothering you?” Luna asks.

“Last night something strange happened.”

“Strange?”

“Yes... I was getting ready for bed when Anon showed up at my room.”

“How is that strange?” Luna asks confused.

“That wasn’t the strange part... He came to my bedside and asked me for a favor.”

“Favor?” Luna can now see the strangeness in what happened.

“He simple told me to face away from him and to not move. I saw no reason to deny his request but the strangest part was when he got in bed and held onto me.”

Luna feels a blush on her face. Was this a move made by Anon? Does he actually have feelings for her sister?

“He held you?”

Celestia feels her face turn red as well. “Yes but... It didn’t feel as if he was doing it for me but for himself.”

“What do you mean?”

“Something happened to him...” Celestia feels her face harden some. “I don’t know what hurt him but it was strong enough to drive him to seek comfort.”

Luna should feel jealous to think that Anon would go to her sister for comfort instead of her but that doesn’t matter to her. All she cares about is Anon, so much so she can already feel the fur on her body start to stand on edge as her attitude falls to a serious one.

“Was it Twilight?” Luna asks.

Celestia shakes her head. “I doubt it. I was speaking with Twilight last night. There’s no way they could’ve ran into one another.”

“Did he not tell you what happened?”

“You know him, Luna... He keeps so many things to himself. I feared to ask him at such a delicate moment.”

“Then why not this morning?”

“He left before I could raise the sun. I have no idea where he went but I felt that giving him space was the best choice for now.”

Luna looks to her hooves in thought, she understands her sister's point but she also can’t stand the unknown. Let alone the thought of some creature harming the one she loves. Luna’s thoughts come to a halt as she hears sobbing. She quickly looks up to see her sister covering her face as tears run down her face.

“Tia?” Luna quickly gets up and walks over to her sister. “What’s wrong?”

“It hurts so much, Lulu... I want to protect him so badly. Yet I know that if I keep him close then he’ll simply push me away.”

Luna hates seeing her sister like this. It was not even a few hours ago that Luna was in the same seat as her sister. She wants to keep what she knows a secret until after the party but perhaps this may be the best time?

“You’re afraid because you love him.” Luna feels the words leave her mouth.

Celestia stops crying as she looks up at her sister.

“Excuse me?”

“Tia... I have something I need to tell you. The fate of Equestria itself pales in comparison.”

Celestia can hear how serious her sister is at this moment. What could be so important that not even Equestria can match what her sister wishes to speak about?


	21. Harsh truths P2

Celestia can only stare at her hooves in shock. The discussion Luna and her just had has revealed a great many things to her. She will freely admit that she has never felt as liberated as she does at this moment and yet at the same time so confined. What her sister spoke of is true. She loves Anon and that in many ways is a good and bad thing. The bad is fear of rejection and the good is having an understanding of the pain she feels in her heart whenever he is near.

“How long have you known?” Celestia asks.

“No more than a few hours ago. It was thanks to Blossom that I was able to come to this realisation.”

That is another thing that bothers Celestia. Her sister has also clearly stated that she too has an interest in Anon. Celestia doesn’t want all of the good between them to sour over something like this. Though she is not blind by the fact that neither of them will back down, not with something like this.

“What do you plan to do knowing how you feel about him?”

Luna can sense the worry in her sister. She’s right to feel such things, as Luna fully intends to pursue her feelings with Anon. However, there is a way of going about this. One that Blossom and her have discussed in length.

“Blossom and I have come up with a plan.”

Celestia raises a brow at her sister. “A plan?”

Luna nods. “She believes that Anon is in a very delicate stage in his life right now. I’m sure you would agree. Yet, no matter how delicate he may be, you seem to be the pony he relies on the most.” Celestia notices a weird look Luna has and is about to speak but Luna holds a hoof up to stop her. “I’m just a little jealous, Tia. I know Anon cares for us both but it cannot be denied that you two are close.”

Luna lets out a sad sigh. “You’re the reason he’s even here in the first place. You were persistent, visiting him every day, becoming friends far before I could. I understand that.”

“What does that have to do with this?” Celestia asks.

“I believe you have the best chance at getting Anon to be interested in a relationship.”

Celestia feels a blush cover her muzzle.

“Y-You want me to court him?”

“Of course. Do you have a problem with that?” Luna asks with a raised brow.

“Luna... I’ve never courted someone before. How does a pony even go about such a thing? Let alone with someone such as Anon?”

Luna turns away from her sister. “To be honest I haven’t thought that far. Just that you should be the first to approach Anon about this subject.” Luna brings her gaze back to her sister. “But does the prospect not excite you?”

Oh it does. Just the thought alone is causing Celestia’s heart to beat out of control.

“I’ve not felt like this since we first started our war with Griffus.” Celestia states.

Luna nods. “With Anon, this may just turn into a battle. Even I have no idea how resistant he will be to the idea of courting. That is such an aspect we’ve not seen from him as of yet.”

“Alright...” Celestia takes a few deep breaths to calm herself. “This news is appreciated. It solves many problems but also gives rise to countless others. For now, I believe we should ensure everything is in order for his party.”

Luna nods. “Agreed. I have no idea when you should speak to Anon about this but I leave the rest in your hooves.”

Luna is about to get up from her seat but has her hoof snatched by Celestia.

“Lulu, this means a lot to me. Thank you for telling me. However, there is one thing that’s bothering me.” She looks up and locks eyes with her sister. “If I am to convince Anon into a relationship with me, where does that leave you?”

Luna gives her sister a confident smile. “The part that’s bound to fail. Convincing him to make a herd.”

* * *

Anon hasn’t said a single word after Blossom let out that bombshell. His mind is trying to understand what she means by that. The picture he’s holding shows that they were really close. Either best friends or even more. Yet why would she wish for someone to die?

“Let me explain.” Blossom speaks up noticing Anon’s questioning gaze. “I don’t know if Luna told you this but in the early years of Equestria we weren’t at peace with most of the land. So, wars were fought. Luna’s knights were the ponies that fought these battles. I’ve seen a lot of things in my time spent in the guard. Killed more than my fair share of various creatures as well.”

Blossom turns away from Anon to look off into the distance. “Killing things used to bother me back then. I had constant nightmares about the faces of those I had to kill. The look of shock, then fear as they realise what’s about to happen and then nothingness. I could barely sleep a wink in those days. Then I met Sweeping Gales. We were bunked together one night. I seen him around but this was my first time actually speaking with him.”

Anon notices a brief smile on her face, as if she’s lost in a sweet memory, if only for a moment.

“He comforted me while I was having a nightmare. Idiot climbed into my bunk and spooned me. When I told him to get out of my bunk, he told me to shut up and that he was having a nightmare too. That was the first night I actually got some sleep. When I woke up in the morning, he was still sleeping with a big stupid looking grin on his face. After that day we got to know each other and even become lovers.”

Blossom’s smile turns to a grimace. “The happiness didn’t last. The war was over, we made it back without a scratch. Sweeps and I got married as soon as we came back and bought this house as well. We wanted to be together. However, after the days turned to weeks I noticed something strange happening to Sweepy... The war wasn’t over for all of us.”

* * *

“A herd? Sister, herds aren’t as common as they used to be.” Celestia comes in.

“I know, Tia... However, I do not want us to fight for him.” Luna’s expression turns slightly dark. “And I have no intention of losing him either.”

“Luna...” Celestia doesn’t want to say it but it’s a fear that may be a reality. “What if he doesn’t want either of us? Worse, what if he only wants one of us? How are we to deal with that?”

“I’ve thought about that too, sister. I would never think to force Anon to love us. In the end he is the one that will choose how he will approach the situation. We must simply give him the options. If he chooses both, one or none, we can do no more than respect his choice.”

“Still... A herd?” Celestia isn’t too sure about that.

Luna looks at the worry on her sister's face, this isn’t the time for them to be worrying about such things. With a small smirk and slightly raised brow Luna decides to lighten the mood.

“Don’t foal yourself, Tia... I’m not interested in you. It’s simply the best option for all parties.”

Celestia feels her entire face turn red.

“Luna! How dare you accuse me of such thoughts!”

Luna chuckles some as she leans over and hugs her sister.

“That’s better, let’s not sour the mood with all these thoughts. A new challenge awaits us and no matter what happens, I still love you.”

Celestia calms a bit as she hugs her sister. “I love you too, Lulu... I just want us both to be happy.”

“So do I but we should also be ready for the worst.”

“I understand.”

They break their embrace from one another.

“I would like to say, that if all should go according to plan, that I want to be the lead mare in the herd.” Luna states boldly.

Celestia rolls her eyes. “How about we try and see if Anon is even interested before discussing all that?”

“Of course, but a mare can dream can’t she?”

* * *

“What I said before about wishing he had died. I didn’t mean that for my sake... I loved him just as much as I did when we first met. However, despite him being away from the battlefield he would sometimes lose himself. I never fully understood what was happening, no pony did. Just, some ponies that came back weren’t the same. His nightmares came back in full force, not even being beside me was enough to calm him. Worse was when things would, remove him from reality. It’s hard to explain but small things would make him afraid.”

Anon immediately understands what Blossom is talking about. Yet it seems that ponies largely have no idea what it could be, seeing as she doesn’t fully understand it herself. It makes sense. As far as he knows there’s been no advancements in the mental department for ponies. The best he’s ever seen was close to an insane asylum.

“You remind me of him.” Anon is brought from thought as he hears Blossom say that. “He cared deeply for his friends, more than I could ever understand and because of that he would do things he believed was necessary to make them happy. Though the most you have in common is that fear. I saw it when Twilight was near you and it was a bit shocking to find someone else with the same problem.”

“PTSD.” Anon says.

“Excuse me?”

“What he had is called PTSD.”

Blossom looks confused but then becomes interested.

“You know what he had?”

Anon nods. “We humans get it from time to time. It’s short for post traumatic stress disorder. What you two seen in that war was enough to change you. For some people, they can’t handle it and it leads to problems even when the war is over.”

“Is there a cure?”

Anon shakes his head. “No. There was some medications that could help but it wasn’t guaranteed to work. To be honest, we never fully understood it. The mind is a complex thing and people are so different that I doubt a cure will ever be made.”

Blossom lets out a slight chuckle. “After all this time, it’s kinda nice to actually have a name for it.”

“So what happened to Sweeping Gales?” Anon asks.

“He died of old age. I don’t know if I made him happy through all those years but I hope I had. It’s one of the few things that haunts me at night.” Blossom lets out a sigh. “So, there you have it. One secret I’ve never told anyone. So, what about you?”

“Ah, yes...” Anon takes a deep breath before letting it out. “There’s one thing I never told the sisters and it’s something that bothers me deeply.”

* * *

Everything appears to be in order. Celestia has looked over the plans for the party and everything is as it should be. Food is ready to be prepared at a moment's notice, the dining hall is decorated accordingly and all guards have been informed of the potential guests that are to arrive. However, that doesn’t calm the rapid beat of her heart. It’s finally sunk in for her. She feels as gleeful as her sister appeared to be earlier today.

“Is everything ready?” Luna asks.

Celestia jumps slightly as she turns to face her sister.

“Yes.”

Luna shakes her head some at her sister's behavior.

“Tia, we must keep what we feel to ourselves for tonight. This is a delicate situation, treat it as such.”

Celestia takes a few breaths in and lets it out.

“I know, Lulu... It’s just still fresh in my mind.”

“I understand but if you can’t keep yourself under control, Anon is bound to know something is wrong.”

Celestia nods. “I’ll be fine by the time he’s arrived.”

“I do hope so.” Luna looks about the room and gives it a once over. “It looks perfect. How long until the party starts?”

“A few hours.”

“Anon is to arrive on time?”

“I’m sure he’ll be here. If not, then we can send word for him.”

“Alright.” Luna turns her gaze back to her sister. Her eyes widen some. “Tia! Will you please stop sweating so profusely!”

“Is it getting hot in here?” Celestia asks with a nervous chuckle.

Celestia levitates a rag to her head trying in vain to clear the sweat pouring down her face. Luna knew her sister would have a hard time controlling herself but this is far worse than she imagined!

“I can’t believe this.” Luna says with a sigh. “Come, Tia... We should bathe you before the party, lest you wish to overpower our guests with your _excitement_.”

Celestia’s face once again turns completely red.

“It’s no-” She quickly reels back her shout. “It’s not _excitement_ , Luna. I’m just nervous!”

“Regardless, I can smell you from here. Not to mention that you need a proper dress. Perhaps that will take your mind off things?”

“A dress... yes, I believe that is appropriate.”

“Let’s go.”

Luna can’t believe how childish her sister can be. It’s almost like she’s the older one at times.

* * *

“I regret becoming friends with the sisters.”

The entire room falls silent. It seems that Blossom was just as shocked with Anon’s reveal as he was with hers.

“W-Why?” Blossom looks confused.

“It’s a complicated thing to be honest. I don’t dislike them. In fact, they’re great ponies. Recently though there’s something that’s been bothering me and that’s my limited time on this planet.”

Blossom thinks she understands. It’s a fear that all living creatures must face, even herself. Still, this doesn’t seem like the entire point Anon is trying to make.

“You’re afraid of dying?”

Anon scoffs. “Oddly enough, no. I spent most of my time wishing I was dead ever since I came to Equestria, I just couldn’t find the heart to do anything about it...” Anon falls silent for a few moments to collect his thoughts. “I guess that’s not entirely true either. I’m afraid of dying but not in the same way as others.”

“What other reason could you fear from dying?”

“I’m afraid of what it would do to the sisters. The thought of leaving them alone makes dying seem terrifying. Then again, perhaps I’m putting too much importance in how they view me? They’ve probably lost things that meant far more than me.” He chuckles some. “Does that make me pretentious?”

“I think it makes you sweet. You care more about how your death would affect those around you than the actual act of dying. So you never told the sisters out of fear for what?”

“I have no idea, Blossom. Ignorance is bliss? If I tell them, then it will be on their mind. I doubt I can push them away at this point but I don’t think having them counting my years would benefit anyone.”

Once again the two of them fall into silence. Anon doesn’t know what to say anymore. He’d like to believe that the sisters would move on with their lives, his death having very little meaning to them but he also knows how isolated they were before he became friends with them. Luna’s memories being far more haunting to him with his mortality in the balance, as he knows how lonely she’s been, even with her sister there.

“May I speak my mind on this?” Blossom asks.

“You’re a free mare.”

“I believe that what the sisters would cherish the most is the time spent with you, not the time without you. I had to watch the pony I love die of old age, even though I never aged a single day. It hurt and the days after hurt more. However, despite all the bad things, the war, after the war, the hospital... I’m glad to have been given the gift of our time spent together.” Blossom looks to her hooves with a slight gloss to her eyes. “I just wish he didn’t have to suffer so much in the end. It’s why I hope he understood in his final moments that I did all I could and I loved him just as much as the first day we met.”

“I guess the only saving grace is that they don’t love me like you loved your partner. We’re just friends and while a friend dying is sad, you get over it in time. I can’t even imagine what it must be like to lose a lover.”

It’s not Blossom’s place to tell Anon how the sisters feel about him. That’s something he should hear from them but, as much as she wishes to hold her tongue, she can feel a question leave her lips.

“And if they did?”

Anon chuckles, never turning to face Blossom.

“Well... That’d make life unbearable.”


	22. Harsh truths P3

Anon starts to notice the light in Blossom’s home dim considerably. They’ve been here for hours. If Anon had to hazard a guess, he’d say that it’s around five in the afternoon. Time sure does like to fly when you’re having an emotional moment with someone. However, he doesn’t feel like much has been accomplished with this chat of theirs. Sure, he’s gained a lot of respect for Blossom sharing such a personal story. Still, this all seems pointless to him because the weight on his shoulders still feels just as heavy as it did this morning.

While he will admit that it’s nice knowing he has a pony he can talk to freely. This does little to solve the problems he has, not that he expected their conversation to solve anything... He knows that he’ll have to cross that bridge eventually.

“You’re a complicated creature, Anon.” Blossom admits.

Complicated... A word Anon doesn’t like. Blossom in many ways is right to think of him as such. It’s hard for Anon to really put into words how he feels about things. Many think he’s a mystery wrapped in a riddle but that isn’t who he is, he’s just doing what he thinks is right, even if it’s something he’ll regret later.

“To be honest, I believe I’m far less complicated than others think, they just draw complicated conclusions about who I am.”

Blossom chuckles at that. “Maybe you’re right.”

Blossom gets up from her seat and moves over to Anon. Without saying a word she wraps him in a strong embrace.

“What’s this about?” He asks feeling weird.

“Nothing’s as simple as a hug. I think that’s what you need right now.”

Anon is hesitant to admit to that but it appears that Blossom is a fast learner. Anon wraps his arms around her and returns the embrace. For so long having anyone so close to him would’ve repulsed him... Nowadays, it’s comforting. Well, if it’s a pony he trusts.

“I’m not admitting that you’re right.” Anon mentions.

“No need, I know I’m right.”

They break from their embrace. The two of them feeling considerably better about the chat they’ve had. It was equally emotional for the both of them and now there’s a sense of trust between them. Blossom has the strong feeling that Anon and her have taken a huge step in their friendship, one that was not carved by time but by swift action. Years worth of bonding summed up into a few hours. She knows she has nothing to worry about when it comes to how Anon views her now, she has his trust as he has hers.

“As much as I loved this conversation... I’d like to leave this house of emotions if you don’t mind?”

Blossom nods. “Agreed. You do have a few spare hours until your party. Got any plans?”

Oh yeah, the party. Anon almost forgot about that. The worst part is that he has no idea if Bonbon intends to show up. It seems that there’s no rest for his consciousness today.

“The party... No, I don’t have any plans.”

Blossom can see Anon starting to worry over what’s going to happen but Blossom isn’t going to let that happen! With a grin she bites Anon’s collar and drags him off her couch in a shocking display of her strength.

“Let’s go shopping!” She says past his shirt as she drags him out of her home.

“Blossom! I can walk!” Anon says keeping his collar from strangling him to death as Blossom stops and lets him go.

“Good because I didn’t want to drag you to the shopping district. I know the perfect place for you!” She says with an odd bat like squeal.

Anon gets of the ground and dusts himself off. As he looks over at Blossom he notices an odd look she’s giving him. It seems to be universal, no matter the place... Females love shopping. He would’ve guessed that Blossom would be the last pony that would enjoy shopping but it appears that she’s just like every other girl to the core.

“Any reason as to why we should go shopping?” He asks.

“I haven’t been shopping in ages and I need a stallions opinion on a few things.”

“How would I know what a stallion would think?”

“You have a penis, right?” She asks with a smirk and a brow raised.

Anon lets out a slow sigh as he covers his face.

“Yes... Yes I do.”

“Good enough for me!”

Blossom latches onto his pant leg this time as she starts to drag him towards the shopping district. While this entire situation is beyond weird for Anon, he can’t help but feel safe with Blossom, considering what they’ve went through and shared, it makes a bit of sense.

* * *

“S-Sister,” Celestia lets out a large pant. “Are you sure this is customary?”

Luna is holding the lace in her teeth with all her strength as she continues to pull the dress tighter on her sister.

“Pain before beauty, Tia.”

“But...I...can...barely...breath!”

Luna opens her eyes to see the purple face of her sister as the dress constricts her. Luna instantly lets go of the lace and all of her hard work slips away as everything loosens up. Celestia takes a moment to catch her breath.

“Luna, I’ll freely admit I have no idea what current fashion trends are amongst our subjects but I believe that my figure cannot support a corset.”

Luna raises a brow as she gives her sister a once over.

“Yes, your copulence is indeed a hindering factor.”

Celestia’s face turns red in irritation but soon falls to a smug grin.

“Well... from Anon’s own mouth we know that his people enjoy a mare that’s bottom heavy. It’s a shame you’re stuck with only so much to offer.”

Luna and Celestia both lock eyes for a moment before they start laughing.

“Very clever, sister.” Luna admits. “Still, we must find a dress to envelope all that you _offer_. I think we should go with something to show off your sexy side. Anon can’t see you as more than a friend if you keep wearing that regalia.”

Celestia glances over to the dresser that holds her regalia. Her sister is right... At least for Anon, she may need to consider not wearing her regalia as often as she does.

“Perhaps you are right but don’t you think this is too soon?”

“We’re not pursuing him just yet, Tia... This is just a small thing to stir the water a bit.”

“I guess there’s no harm in looking good.”

“Well put!” Luna pulls out another dress. “Let’s try this one next.”

“Alright, but let me put it on this time.”

* * *

“Everything will be fine.” Cadance says to herself in the mirror. “I just have to talk to him. I’m sure we can come to an understanding.”

Cadance glances over to her dresser, a top sits a photo. She uses her magic to levitate it over to her as she looks at it. A small smile grows on her face as she looks at the filly she used to take care of. Twilight is looking forward at the camera nervously as Cadance stands beside her with a large smile. This was their first photo together and Twilight never got her picture taken before. She spent so much of her time learning magic that she didn’t even know that ponies had made the technology to take photos.

Cadance’s smile fades as she recalls the last time she spoke with Twilight. The look of anguish in her eyes. She’s never seen such suffering in her entire life and yet no pony here cares to try and help her. Cadance has no idea what will happen during this party, however, this is for Twilight. She can’t sit around and pretend as if things will get better given time. Not with somepony like Twilight. She’s always had a problem with accepting her mistakes since she was a filly. So Cadance will be there for her when she’s needed most.

She looks over at the clock and notices that it’s almost time for the party to start. She wanted to tell Shining about her plan but she knew that he would’ve protested. She must go this alone and hope that everything will work out in the end. Cadance takes in one last long breath to calm her nerves.

“Show time.”

* * *

“So, what do you think?” Blossom asks with a smirk as she gives a small twirl for Anon.

Anon can’t believe he’s actually here doing this right now. Blossom dragged him to a store he’s never been to before, spent thirty minutes grabbing dresses off a few racks, forced him to sit in front of a dressing stage as she put on dress, after dress, after dress and asked him how she looks. He’s already been here for over an hour and his patience is starting to wear thin.

“Blossom, I don’t care. You look fine. Take either of those statements and let’s leave already.”

“You’re no fun. I’m trying to look good for your party.” Blossom states as she looks herself in the various mirrors surrounding her on the stage.

“Why do you care what I think?” Anon asks.

“Anon, it may seem like a weird concept for you to take in, but mares like looking pretty for stallions they care for. Maybe it’s a primal thing, but we like impressing a stallion with our looks, even if they’re just friends.”

Anon still has a hard time understanding how ponies work on a social level. All he can really do is take Blossom’s word for it.

“You’re implying that other ponies are going to play dress up as well?”

Blossom chuckles at that. “Of course they are. This is your party after all and you’ve collected a loyal following of mares.” Blossom flexes her wings some to see how the dress feels. “In fact, since you have so many friends that are mares, I’d expect most of them will go above and beyond to impress you with how they look.”

This is all confusing. “Why?”

Blossom shrugs. “Mares can get rather competitive with each other for a stallions attention. Again, it’s mostly a primal thing. Kinda like estrus.”

This is getting a lot more personal than Anon was hoping for. So he decides to change the subject.

“I assume wearing a dress into battle isn’t a smart move?”

Blossom easily catches the hint to move on. “Other than the surprise factor, it’s never a good idea.”

Anon lets out a long sigh. He can’t believe this turn of events.

“Now you’re making me think I need a new suit. If everyone is going to go all out, then it seems appropriate that I at least try my best.”

“It doesn’t hurt to impress.”

“I’m not looking to impress, just make things even.”

“Still, looking nice never hurt anyone.” Blossom gives herself a single nod. “This dress will do fine.” She turns to a mare next to her that’s covered in used dresses. “I’ll take this one and can your seamstress assist my stallion with a nice suit? He’s got an important party coming up and a whole lot of mares vying for his attention.”

“ _Your stallion_?” Anon scoffs. “I wasn’t aware our relationship had taken so many leaps and bounds?”

Blossom shrugs again. “Get used to it, Stud... You’d be surprised by how many mares want to make that thought into a reality.”

Anon has nothing to say about that. The fact is that he already knows of a single pony that tried and failed. He feels his mood sour a bit as his mind returns to Lyra. He just doesn’t get it... He shakes those thoughts away as he returns his attention to Blossom. This world is confusing... There’s so much of it that he doesn’t understand.

“Right this way, sir.” The mare that’s covered in dresses speaks out as she turns and walks away.

Anon is brought from thought and is impressed by the fact that the mare is navigating with ease, despite not being able to see anything. He decides to follow her as this is a good excuse to take his mind off everything that’s been happening. Blossom gives herself a once over in the mirror. Yeah, she looks sexy. Too bad she isn’t interested in a relationships anymore, still, it’s funny messing with Anon.

“Oh my... What a lovely dress. May I ask where you got it?”

Blossom looks over to see Fluttershy standing there. Ah, an interesting turn of events.

“Yes, over there.”

Blossom points Fluttershy towards a podium where Anon is standing, a mare taking his measurements. Blossom can hear Anon giving the mare various answers about what he is and some other things that aren’t important. However, Fluttershy’s eyes widen as she instantly locks onto Anon.

“I-I didn’t know Anon was here. Is he getting ready for the party too?”

“He is.”

Fluttershy jumps a bit, having forgot Blossom was there.

“Oh... You’re a friend of his?”

“Yeah. I’m also his guard. Captain Blossom of the Lunar Knights.”

“Lunar knights? That sounds important.”

“It was at one time. Not so much nowadays.” Blossom clears her throat. “So I assume you’re looking to get something for his party as well?”

Fluttershy nods with a small blush. “Yes, It seems like an important party, so I thought dressing up would be nice.”

“For the party or for Anon?” Blossom remarks with a smirk.

Fluttershy’s wings snap open at hearing that.

“W-What? No! Well... He’s a very nice creature but I don’t think i’m ready for something so sudden. I mean, we barely even know each other!”

“Don’t worry, I’m just messing with you.”

Fluttershy lets out a sigh. “Oh, ok... I did mean what I said though. He seems very sweet.”

“Complicated, but yes, he’s sweet.”

Fluttershy snaps back to why she came to this store in the first place.

“Sorry to have bothered you. I think I’ll just look at the dresses over there.” She points to an area exactly opposite of where Anon is.

“Still a few hours left till the party. Good luck in finding something nice.”

“Thank you. Have a good night, Blossom.”

“You too, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy hides behind her mane as she walks off to the other side of the store. As Blossom turns to where Anon was, she notices that he’s already walking towards her. It seems that he’s a little bit irritated but hasn’t noticed Fluttershy at all.

“Are you done yet?” He asks as soon as he’s standing beside Blossom.

“Yup. You?”

“Yeah. The only saving grace of that mare is that she’s fast.” Anon lets out a long sigh. “I hate getting clothes made.”

Anon walks past Blossom as he heads on over to the cash register. Standing there is the mare that was once covered in clothes. She already has a suit sitting beside the register, neatly folded and waiting for packaging.

“How much for the dress and suit?” Anon asks.

“Six hundred bits.” The mare answers.

Anon doesn’t hesitate as he pulls out the bits and places them on the counter. The mare is quick to put his belonging into the bag. Anon waits as Blossom takes off her dress and the mare carefully places it into the bag as well.

“Let’s get out of here.” Anon states as he grabs the bag and walks out of the store.

It seems that whatever Anon experienced with Twilight has made him hate getting his measurements taken. Then again, maybe it wasn’t Twilight that put that anger into him?

* * *

“I must admit you look lovely, Sister. How long has it been since you’ve used your natural mane in public?” Luna asks.

“For quite some time. I do hope it doesn’t draw too much of a crowd at the party.”

Luna giggles. “Luck is on your side. Anon’s not known for having large parties. Though I’m sure there will be a few ponies that will take notice. Though you won’t go this path alone.”

Luna looks herself over in the mirror as she drags her sister to her side with a wing.

“Gaze upon our beauty, Tia. Why, I remember a time when ponies would weep to see their leaders in such a way!”

Celestia takes a moment to actually look not only at herself but her sister as well. She does a few side long poses to get a better look at herself and Luna is right. They do look rather fit for this night.

“It makes me wonder why we don’t do this more?” Celestia whispers to herself.

“Well, to be honest, I only wish to look this good for Anon. I feel my beauty would be wasted on those that fall to the wayside.”

“A sentiment that I mirror. Though it’s hard to look like this for Anon all the time.”

Luna nods. “That is true. So, we will keep this special for him. We wouldn’t want to bore him too quickly, right?”

“Right.”

Luna looks over to the clock and catches the time.

“Perfect. The party is just about to start. Quickly, Tia, we must return to the dining hall!”

“I’ll be right behind you, Lulu. Give me one moment.”

“Very well but do not keep the party waiting.”

Luna takes off and leaves Celestia alone. Celestia is looking at herself in the mirror as she takes in a few deep breaths. She needs to calm down before Anon sees her. She doesn’t want him possibly seeing through her with that gaze of his... Celestia shivers some, oh how she hopes for this to become the fairytale she’s always wished for. She can think of no one better than Anon and while she knows it’ll be rough, it’s something worth fighting for.

* * *

“Ready, Stud?” Blossom asks as Anon puts on his suit.

“Just about. Time?”

“Five minutes. We’ll get there.”

Anon looks past his mirror and at the reflection of Blossom as she rests on his bed.

“I...” Anon looks away from Blossom as she looks over at him. “I enjoyed today, Blossom... As rough as the start was, you made it, somewhat bearable.”

“Well, it was nice talking about the past with someone too.” Blossom admits.

Anon adjusts his tie once more.

“All ready.” He turns away from the mirror and finds Blossom already standing beside the door.

“After you.”

Anon smirks a little as he gives her a mock bow just before walking past her and towards the dining hall... Maybe this day doesn't have to end horribly?


	23. Troubling times

“There’s nothing to worry about.” Anon says to himself. “It’ll be fine.”

Anon’s thoughts are thrown off as he feels something bump into him, forcing him to catch himself before he stumbles to the side. He looks over to see Blossom giving him a smirk.

“You’re worrying too much. Remember, I got your back, even if you don’t see me.”

“Yeah...” Anon catches his breath to steady his nerves. “You’re right.”

Anon doesn’t hesitate as he opens the doors to the dining hall. He scans the room in pure instinct to take in the surroundings. The first thing he notices is that the entire room has been decorated. It seems that no expense was spared to create all that this party has. Anon would linger on that but his gaze falls onto the center of the room. A small group is collected there and what catches his eye isn’t something he expected to see.

The sisters are in dresses. Not their regalia, not something formal, but dresses he’d expect to see on, well, other ponies. Not to mention that their manes aren’t the usual ethereal ones that Anon is used to. No, these are their natural manes, it’s been a long time since he’s seen them. Yet unlike other ponies, they wear no makeup, in a weird way Anon prefers it that way, as if it would ruin their appearance.

Anon feels another bump from his side.

“Wow, those two are looking hot.” Blossom says.

“Well, I guess you were right about all the ponies wanting to dress up.” Anon remarks. “I feel slightly better about the suit.”

“What can I say, mares love looking nice.”

Anon notices all the ponies in the group now turn to his direction. The two sisters seem to glow as they notice his presence. Anon decides to not linger as he walks over to them, taking in the others that surround the princesses. He’s happy to see that a few of his friends made it here. Blueblood, Pinkie, Maud and Spitfire. Even Fluttershy has shown up. There are a few ponies missing but the party's just starting from what he can tell.

Anon waves at the group once he’s close enough.

“It’s nice seeing that most of you made it here.”

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world!” Pinkie shouts with glee.

She hops to her hind hooves and wraps Anon in a hug. It’s a bit unexpected but he returns the embrace.

“I’m happy you’re here, Pinkie. How have you and Maud been enjoying your visit?”

“We’ve been having a great time!” Pinkie lets go of Anon. “Did you know there was a crystal cavern under the castle?”

“I actually didn’t.” Anon says surprised.

“They have tours every so often.” Maud comes in. “We were lucky to visit when they were open to the public.”

“I guess you liked it?”

Maud nods. “It was breathtaking.”

“Well I hope this party can be just as entertaining.” Anon looks back at Pinkie. “I’m sure the princesses did well enough, it’s not really their special talent.”

Pinkie rocks her head back and forth with a questioning gaze as she looks over the room.

“Yeah, I guess it’ll do.” She faces Anon and giggles to herself.

Anon just pats Pinkie on the head as he face his other guests.

“I’m surprised you had the free time to stop by?” Anon says to Spitfire.

“Well, we’ve been working hard for this past week. I think I’ve deserved a little down time.”

Anon notices Fluttershy hiding slightly behind Spitfire.

“It’s good to see you here too, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy flinched slightly as she hides behind her mane.

“T-Thank you for inviting me.”

Anon then pats Blueblood on the shoulders, as he’s standing beside Fluttershy.

“Having fun?”

“Of course. It’s nice to have parties like this from time to time.” He says in his royal tone.

Despite his attitude, Anon can tell that he’s happy to at least know that Fluttershy is here. Now the most obvious ponies. Anon can see both Luna and Celestia waiting eagerly for him to speak with them. Luna gives no pause as she steps forward to greet Anon.

“We thought you wouldn’t show.”

“I doubt you would let me skip out on the party.” Anon jokes.

“That’s true. So...” Luna strikes a small pose. “Like my dress?”

Anon nods. “You look great. I have to say I like it better than the regalia.”

Luna blushes some as she smiles at his compliment.

“We wouldn’t wish to spoil you too often.”

Anon chuckles at that. “I’m sure.”

Anon turns to Celestia. Now that he’s closer, he can truly appreciate how she looks. She really went all out with this party. She’s taken a lot of time to put this all together and even make herself look nice. Anon can feel that sense of ease by being close to the sisters. It’s as if nothing could go wrong when they’re around.

* * *

Cadance walks into the dining hall ready for the mission that’s ahead. Yet, as she walks into the room and takes a look around, her eyes instantly fall onto the crowd in the center of the room. There are quite a few ponies gathered there and many things that catch Cadence’s eye. Everypony has put far more time into what they are wearing when compared to the average party. That signifies that everypony here has a close relationship to Anon and actually care what he thinks about their appearance.

The next thing that shocks Cadance is how her aunts look. Their mane, it’s like nothing she has ever seen before. Ever since she was a filly she has come to know their looks for what they were but never once has she seen them with a normal pony like mane. This is surprising in its own right but not as startling as what she notices when she looks closely at her aunt Celestia.

To any pony, it looks like two friends are only moments from an embrace and yet Cadance can feel her cutie mark burn, almost as if it’s on fire. She actually winces from the pain for a moment but quickly returns her attention to the both of them. She can’t believe this, she must be mistaken? She activates a spell she hasn’t used in a long time to confirm what she feels.

It’s immediate and clear. A large burning aura of love is radiating off not only her aunt Celestia but also Luna. This isn’t just any random every day kind of love, this is true love. Cadance quickly breaks her spell as the overwhelming feelings coming from her aunts was almost enough to knock her unconcious. When did this happen? Why didn’t she feel this before? How could their love for that creature be so potent?

It seems that Shining was right. This complicates things considerably. If Cadance does something to upset Anon, then the wrath of her aunt's will know no bounds. She needs to play it cool and when the right moment comes, then she will speak with Anon.

* * *

“The dress is a bit of a surprise. Not that I’m complaining. It looks good on you.”

Celestia can’t help the small blush on her muzzle from Anon’s compliment.

“Thank you. My sister helped me with it.”

Anon notices Celestia’s ear flick towards the dining hall door as she looks past him and smiles slightly. He turns to see what she’s looking at and finds something he doesn’t understand at first glance. It’s another alicorn. Far smaller than Celestia and even Luna, yet she stands taller than the rest of the ponies here. Pink, with no ethereal mane, that’s in a tricolor pattern as opposed to the single shade the sisters have, which makes Anon think that she doesn’t have an ethereal mane by default. She’s wearing a modest dress when compared to the others and doesn’t appear to be lost.

“That’s my niece Cadance. I wanted you to meet her but she’s only just arrived to Canterlot. I hope you don’t mind I invited her to your party.” Celestia answers the questioning gaze Anon has.

“Sure, I guess.” Anon says not feeling comfortable with a pony he doesn’t know here.

However, seeing as Celestia invited this pony, the least he can do is humor her.

“Everything will be fine.” Luna comes in. “We’ve known Cadance for a long time.”

“I expect an explanation about this later.” Anon whispers to both sisters.

“It’s complicated but I will not deny you the courtesy.” Celestia answers.

Anon calms his nerves as Cadance walks up to the group. She gives a bow to her aunts and introduces herself.

“Hello everypony. I’m princess Cadance.”

The first odd thing Anon notices is that with the exception of Celestia and Luna, all of the other mares here are just as confused by Cadance’s appearance. So it appears that she isn’t as well known as he’d assume her to be. Which makes him question a lot about who and where this pony has been this entire time. Still, he said he’d humor her, so he’ll try and settle his questioning thoughts, if only for Celestia’s sake.

“OH wow! I didn’t know there was another princess?!” Pinkie shouts. “Where have you been this entire time? I don’t ever remember anypony talk about three princesses, even when I was a filly!”

Well, if Pinkie can do one thing it’s break the ice. Cadance is a bit thrown off by the pink pony in her face but she calms a bit. Her question makes a lot of sense.

“I’ve been busy for awhile now. Learning about various duties a princess must do to keep her ponies happy. This has kept me outside of Equestria most of my life, with only a few months to myself between trips.”

“Sounds super busy.”

“It can be but I’ve learned a great many things since I’ve gotten out into the world. I’m glad to say that my traveling days are finally over.”

“It seems we have many reasons to celebrate today.” Anon comes in.

Cadance and Anon lock eyes for a moment. The first thing she notices is his piercing gaze, as if he’s looking through her. The second thing is how he holds himself in a manner that is similar to a griffin, guarded. He clearly doesn’t trust her and is simply waiting for her to make the first move.

“Yes, it’s a perfect day indeed.” Cadance responds as she offers him her hoof. “You can call me Cadance, Anon.”

Anon feels his eyes narrow some as he takes hold of her hoof. It makes sense that she knows his name, Celestia probably spoke to her at some point in time. Still, she’s hiding something.

“I assume Celestia has told you about me?”

“A few things. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.”

Anon lets go of her hoof as she sets it back onto the floor. The tension in the room calms a bit. Anon needs to get away from this pony. He can’t put his finger on it but something about her is putting him on edge and it has nothing to do with why she’s here, though he gets the feeling that’s something he should worry about as well.

“I hope you ladies don’t mind but I could go for a drink.”

Anon doesn’t even wait for them to answer as he grasps Blossom by the scruff of her dress and drags her with him.

* * *

“That pony gives me a weird feeling.” Anon mentions to Blossom as he pours himself a drink.

“You felt it too?”

“Yeah. Any idea what it could be?”

“I have a few ideas but don’t worry about it. Everything will be fine.”

“If you say so.” Anon quickly downs his drink. “I better not keep the sisters waiting, I can practically hear their thoughts.”

Blossom chuckles. “You’re that close with them?”

“They’re predictable.”

“Is that why you enjoy their company so much?” Blossom asks with a smirk.

“Perhaps. Anyway, that’s neither here nor there. Enjoy the party.”

“Don’t need to tell me twice. See you around, Stud.”

Blossom walks off towards the mares that are talking with Cadance. She wants to be close to her to ensure that if she tries anything, then Blossom won’t be far from her. Anon turns back around and finds the sisters have broken from the group of mares and are walking towards him.

“Thanks for going through the trouble of throwing this party.” Anon says as soon as they are near.

“It was no trouble.” Celestia speaks.

“Yes, no trouble at all.” Luna replies in kind.

Anon once again finds his eyes drifting to what they are wearing. The two of them notice his wandering gaze as they briefly look at one another and smile in success.

“Man, those dresses are really nice.” Anon says as he looks them over. “I didn’t even know you two owned something like this.”

“We wanted to look good for the party. It’s not everyday that a friend celebrates their success.” Luna says.

“I guess that’s true.”

“Not to mention that we will finally be spending more time together. Dressing any less would be insulting.” Celestia adds.

“I wouldn’t say insulting but then again I still don’t really get Equestrian culture. Besides all that, I think you two look great.”

“Just great?” Luna prods.

“What’s better than great?” Anon jokes.

“I don’t know... How about beautiful?”

“I thought that went without saying?”

Both Celestia and Luna’s face go completely red at hearing Anon say that. It leaves them speechless for a moment before Celestia catches herself.

“T-Thank you. I think you look rather handsome yourself.”

“I probably didn’t put much into my outfit like every mare here has but thanks.”

As nice as it is to be complemented by Anon there’s something off about it as well. He’s speaking as if he were talking about the weather. They get the feeling that his compliments, while in a good place in his heart, don't hold the same meaning they are looking for. Not that they were expecting anything to happen so early but they are still swimming a bit from their realisation of their feelings this morning. Having Anon so close makes the sisters want to hold him tight and tell him exactly how they feel.

Yet, they must hold their tongue. They have plenty of time to get that part of their lives started, today is a day of celebration, nothing more. Anon looks around the room once more to take in all the mares.

“A few ponies haven’t shown up. I guess they had something come up.” Anon remarks noticing a few mares weren’t here.

“I’m sure it was important if they didn’t come.” Luna says.

“That’s fine. I still have many good friends here to enjoy the party.” Anon turns around and pours himself another drink. “So far this party is going well.”

Both sisters nod their head as Anon drinks. However, before he can finish he instantly covers his mouth and spits his drink into his hand. Celestia is worried but notice that his eyes are looking past her. Celestia and Luna look over their withers towards the front door and find one pony standing there... Lyra.

* * *

“Trixie hopes she’s not too late.”

Trixie is walking down the halls of the castle looking for the dining hall. Perhaps she should’ve taken that guards offer in showing her the way? When she came to the front gate they knew she was here for Anon’s party but she cockily told them that she knew the way to the dining hall and could show herself. That wasn’t exactly the case and now she’s been wandering about for over twenty minutes.

Trixie stops at the nearest door and looks inside. Nothing. She lets out a sigh. This may take longer than she thought. However, before she can take a step further, she hears the sound of hoof steps. Perfect, this is probably a guard that can give her some directions. Trixie walks towards the split in the hallway where she hears the hoof steps. As she turns the corner she’s surprised when she bumps into something.

She shakes her head some and looks to see if she bumped into the guard. Yet, what she finds is anything but a guard.

“Twilight?” She asks confused.

Standing before her is one Twilight Sparkle. The same mare that exposed her for being a fraud, chased her out of Ponyville and was the one reason she lost her job as a magician. Why is she here and not in Ponyville?

“Sorry.” Twilight says in a weak voice and continues to walk past Trixie as if she doesn’t even recognize her.

As much as Trixie hates Twilight for everything she did to her, there seems to be something wrong with her.

“Are you alright, Twilight?” Trixie asks.

Twilight stops and turns around to face Trixie. The soulless look in her eyes fades some as she recognises her.

“Trixie? Is that you?”

“Yeah... What are you doing here?”

“I was studying and then...” Trixie notices her wince slightly. “I needed a break.”

“Um... ok... Do you know where to dining hall is by any chance?”

Twilight lifts a hoof towards an empty hall. “Down the hall, to the right, you can’t miss it.”

“Thank you.”

Trixie is getting the creeps from Twilight. It’s like she’s a zombie.

“Why are you here?” Twilight asks.

“Just a party for Anon.”

Twilight head hangs low at hearing that.

“Anon... Right... Have a fun time.”

That’s all Twilight says as she walks down the hall in a lifeless fashion. Trixie is left alone in the hall unsure of what just happened. She always thought that if she got to see Twilight again she’d give her a piece of her mind about what happened on that day and yet she couldn’t. Seeing Twilight like that isn’t bringing her joy at all. She’ll put this behind her for now or else she’ll be late to the party.

* * *

What is Lyra doing here? Anon is stuck in place as he can’t move his eyes away from her. She’s not wearing a dress and she’s searching the room, probably for him. This isn’t good. He has no idea what will happen if she finds him but it’s not like he can run or hide. Her search doesn’t take long as she locks eyes with Anon. She doesn’t look angry but afraid. Celestia looks between Lyra and Anon.

“Is everything alright?” She asks Anon worried what this could be about.

“Not at all but I gotta handle this.” Anon walks past both sisters and towards Lyra. “What are you doing here?”

“I-I just want to talk.”

“I’ve made myself perfectly clear. Leave, Lyra.”

“I can’t. Please, just give me five minutes.” Lyra lowers her head with tears in her eyes.

Anon doesn’t hate Lyra... He has to keep telling himself that because it’s true. She’s a friend and seeing her like this does hurt him. Anon grits his teeth slightly.

“Follow me.”

Lyra doesn’t say anything as Anon leads her towards a balcony door. He opens the two glass doors and lets her walk past as he enters behind her and closes the door.

“This is about as private as I want us to get.” Anon remarks. “I don’t trust you, Lyra. So hurry up and say what you came here to say.”

Lyra lets out a long sigh. “Alright... I came here to say I’m sorry for what happened at the shop. I just... I love you.”

“We’ve talked about this. Time and time again. You broke my trust, that’s one thing but what really pisses me off is that you actually pulled Bonbon into this. I can’t forgive that, it makes me sick just thinking about it.”

Lyra winces as she hears Anon say that.

“I just didn’t know what else to do.”

“You have a seriously problem, Lyra. I made my decision to help solve your problem. Bonbon loves you and that should mean the world to you.” Anon clenches his fist in anger. “I’m just as guilty as you. I could’ve put my foot down a long time ago but I didn’t. So this is why we’re here, Lyra. I care about Bonbon, enough to put a stop to this, for her sake.”

Lyra nods her head. “I understand... So this is it?”

“For now. Maybe some time later we can put this all behind us but as it stands now, this is goodbye.”

Lyra lowers her head again. “You talked to Bonbon this morning too?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“That makes sense. She came home crying. I didn’t know how to console her, being the problem that is. I never felt so worthless in my life. Just standing there while the mare I Iove was in pain. I just kept thinking about you and how bringing you back would make everything better... Then I realised what you meant.” Lyra walks over to the glass door leading to the dining hall. “I hope we can see each other again soon.”

Anon doesn’t say anything as he walks past Lyra and towards the balcony. With no answer from Anon, Lyra quickly leaves. Anon can only stand there and look at the moon as it starts crossing the sky. It’s starting to get late and Anon already feels emotionally drained by everything that’s happened.

“Love is rather complicated, isn’t it?” A voice calls out to him.

Anon turns around to see that Cadance pony standing there.

“How do yo-”

She giggles as she shows him her hind end. A crystal looking heart cutie mark.

“It’s my special talent. I can sense love whenever it is near.”

“If you don’t mind, I want to be alone.”

“Are you sure? Talking about things can help ease your pain.”

“I don’t make it a habit of spilling my guts to any pony that happens to walk by.” Anon remarks feeling irritated by her presence.

Cadance walks over to Anon until she’s standing beside him. This party has actually opened her eyes to many things. The mares here talked about Anon. How sweet he is and willing to go the extra mile for his friends. There was not a single thing they could speak ill about him. Cadance spoke to them about what happened in Ponyville. It seems that Pinkie is the element of laughter and was closest to what happened.

She spoke of all the things that happened with her and Anon. As well as the things he endured. How he never spoke out about what was happening and instead kept to himself. It was hard for her to recollect on the memories but she did so to share with Cadance. While they assured Cadance that he was a tough shell to crack, it was worth the loyalty and kindness he brings to the table. Even if it doesn’t seem nice at the time, what Anon does is for the benefit of his friends.

Cadance learned that things aren’t as black and white as she wants them to be. She’s heard the story from her aunt but actually speaking to the ponies there puts a lot of it into perspective. She can’t imagine what Anon has gone through, but she can’t deny that Twilight is suffering for her actions, that’s still the little filly she used to take care of.

“Anon... I wish to speak freely about something. Would you hear me out?”

“Will you leave me alone after?”

“Yes.”

Anon lets out a sigh. “Sure.”

“As I said before. I am princess Cadance but before I was a princess I was just a foalsitter. The filly I took care of went by the name Twilight.” Anon tenses up at hearing this but keeps silent. “She was a curious filly. Always learning about magic but never cared to make friends. I tried to get her to make some friends but sadly I had to leave to start my own training.”

“It’s hard for me to think that the filly I used to take care of has done something so horrible. Her parents, brother and friends have turns their back on her. She is all alone and has no one to turn to. I spoke to her a few days ago and she wasn’t doing well.” Cadance can feel some tears building in her eyes. “I don't know what to do to help her. She’s drowning in her own sorrow and there’s only one thing that can save her. You.”

Anon didn’t want to hear any of this. It’s about as much as he expected. Why should he care if Twilight is suffering? It’s justice as far as he’s concerned.

“Twilight is a good pony.” Cadance continues at Anon’s silence. “I know you don’t believe that. I wouldn’t believe it either after what happened to you but... I can’t stand to see her like this. I know it’s pointless but all I ask if that you think deep about what she’s done and try, no matter how hard it is, to forgive her... If not for her sake, then your own... I’m sure living with the burden of the past is a tiring venture.”

Everything falls silent. The only sound between the two is the wind that pushes the trees ever so slightly.

“I’d like to be left alone now.” Anon says.

“Right...” Cadance clears her eyes as she walks towards the door but stops before exiting. “I think you, more than anypony else, can truly understand how lonely Twilight feels right now.”

With that said, Cadance leaves Anon alone. Anon looks off into the distance with grit teeth. That last remark really rubbed him the wrong way. Why should he care how alone she feels? Maybe, maybe she’ll finally understand how he felt all those years.

* * *

“Go out there and talk to him!” Luna urges her sister.

“He wanted to be alone!”

“You know how he is! Just go out there and comfort him.”

“Why not you?”

Luna rolls her eyes. “We talked about this. You should be trying to get closer to him. Think of this as a test run.”

“I don’t know... What Lyra and him talked about was personal.”

“Which proves the point that he needs someone that can help him feel better.”

Celestia really does want to go out there to help him but she doesn’t want to push boundaries either. It’s why she hasn’t been using her emotion magic on Anon lately.

“O-Ok... fine.”

Celestia walks over to the balcony door and opens it slightly and looks inside. Standing there looking off into the distance in Anon. She can’t tell what he’s feeling but he must have a lot on his mind. She steps inside and closes the door behind her.

“Who is it this time?” Anon whispers with a grunt.

“Are you alright?” Celestia asks. “You’ve been out here for awhile.”

Anon feels his nerves calm as he turns around to face Celestia with a smile.

“Just some things on my chest.”

“Does it have to do with your business partners?”

Anon feels his smile slip some but nods.

“Yeah... I’m sorry for what happened last night.”

“There’s no need to be sorry.” Celestia says as she walks up to him. “You should never hesitate when you’re in need of comfort.”

“Still, it was out of the blue but I really needed you at that moment.”

Anon hates admitting how vulnerable he was in that moment but he’s fine with telling Celestia that... He’s known her long enough to trust her with sensitive topics.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Anon lets out a sigh.

“Sure.”

Celestia notices Anon shiver some at the cold air. She walks closer to him, takes a seat and pulls him to her chest as she wraps her wings around him for warmth.

“Take all the time you need.” She whispers to him.

Something about this, the way Celestia is holding him, puts Anon at ease. He doesn’t want to lie to her, she’s always been kind and helpful, worrying about him more than herself... Being truthful is the least he can do.

“So, it all started yesterday when I was at the shop.”


	24. Comfort zone

Anon has been talking for a few minutes now. Told Celestia about what happened between Bonbon, Lyra and him. It wasn’t an easy story for him to tell and he could sense that it wasn’t an easy story for Celestia to listen to. He could feel her hold him tight every so often and open her mouth to say something but instead chose to keep silent. What she wanted to say at those times, Anon will never know but he was occupied at the time telling his story anyways. For Celestia, she was upset by a few things Anon spoke of.

Mostly about his friends attempting to court him. She knew that mare had a thing for Anon but for her to actually go as far as she did... Celestia is both happy Anon turned them down but also sad on how everything played out. She’s in two minds about it all. On one end she wants to console Anon and tell him that everything will be alright but the other end wants to celebrate the idea that Anon hasn’t been taken from her.

She feels guilty in a way to be happy over this news but she can only blame it on how she feels about him.

“That’s about the long and short of it.” Anon ends. “As far as I know, I won’t be seeing them for a long time.”

“I’m sorry something like this has happened.”

“It was wishful thinking on my part that I thought Lyra would change... I’m the one to blame, no one else.”

“Still.” Celestia uses her wings to pull him to her chest. “It must hurt, having to do the right thing.”

Anon doesn’t push away from Celestia and instead allows himself to sink a bit into her plush fur.

“It’s not easy, I’ll admit that.”

“I know all too well what doing the right thing can do to a pony...” Celestia feels her memories drift to her sister.

Anon knows she’s talking about the Nightmare Moon thing. Seeing Celestia depressed like this just doesn’t feel right. He might as well change the subject to something lighter. Anon then takes notice that the two of them have actually been outside for quite some time.

“No reason to reflect on the past now.” Anon says as he pulls away from Celestia. “It’s getting late, we should say our goodbyes to the others.”

Celestia nods at that. “You’re correct. We have been absent for a spell.”

* * *

Luna watches as Anon and Celestia enter back into the dining room together. A smile grows on her face as she notices the more relaxed demeanor from Anon. It appears Luna’s idea was flawless. Her sister has comforted him in his time of need. She can sense that things are going rather well. Luna may be lost in thought but that does little to keep her from feeling a presence saddle up next to her.

“So, how’s the plan going?” Blossom asks.

“As well as I would expect.” Luna looks down at Blossom’s attire. “You’ve been busy as well.”

Blossom shrugs. “What can I say? It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten the chance to look nice.”

“Hmm? Should I expect more competition for Anon?”

Blossom chuckles at that. “Don’t worry. I like him but he’s not my type.”

“When has perfect never been anyones type?” Luna mumbles to herself.

“Perfect for you, princess...” Blossom remarks having heard her clearly. “Anon is in good hooves. If you don’t mind, I’d like to take the rest of the evening off for myself.”

“Your request is granted.” Before Blossom can walk away Luna rests a hoof onto her withers. “Have a good night, Blossom.”

Blossom smiles at Luna. “A good night to you too, Luna.”

With that all said, Blossom walks off to leave the party. She has a lot of things on her mind, after having brought up the past with Anon. There are a few places she hasn’t been to for many years and perhaps now’s a good time as any to visit. Luna watches in silence as Blossom walks away, something is troubling her, perhaps she will enquire about it tomorrow? For now though, she will return to Anon’s side.

* * *

Anon looks around the room and notices everyone is still having a good time. It seems that even Trixie has managed to make it at some point too, as she chats with everyone in the group. Cadance and Blossom are no longer around, while Blossom not being here is odd, Anon doesn’t care where Cadance is. So, seeing as the sisters are around and there are no threats to be found, he can only assume Blossom went off to do her own thing, which is fine by him.

“Time to get this over with.” Anon says feeling uneasy. “I was never good at saying goodbye.”

“It’s not goodbye.” Celestia remarks. “The party is simply coming to an end.”

“Right.”

Anon takes a breath in to steady his nerves but calms considerably when he feels Celestia rest a wing on his shoulder. She pulls him a bit to her side with her wing as he walks over to the group of mares. Once they are close enough Anon decides to speak out to them.

“Everyone having a great time?”

“Of course we are!” Pinkie shouts before anyone can answer. “Trixie has been showing us these cool tricks that don’t require magic! She calls it sleight of hoof!”

“That sounds pretty cool.” Anon pats Pinkie on the head.

“Trixie was a bit late showing up.” Trixie says. “So Trixie thought a small show was in order. Though Trixie’s glad to see you.”

“It’s always nice to see you too, Trixie.” Anon catches Fluttershy and Blueblood yawning out of the corner of his eye. “Though I have to admit it’s getting a bit late. We may have to call it a night, ladies.”

“Oh come on!” Spitfire comes in. “I can go for hours! How about a bar? Get salted up real nice!”

“Oh my... I don’t drink.” Fluttershy says.

“I can go for a drink!” Pinkie says. “How about you, Maud?”

She shakes her head. “I’m set to leave tomorrow morning and I don’t want to miss my train.”

“You’ll be fine! Come have a drink with your sister.” Pinkie urges.

Maud looks up at Anon with a nondescript emotion. Most likely asking for his help.

“Pinkie,” Anon comes in. “You’ve had a lot of fun, time to call it a night.”

“But I don’t wanna!” She protests in a childish fashion.

Anon just shakes his head as he leans down and hugs Pinkie.

“We’ll see each other again.”

Pinkie hugs him back.

“Really?”

“Of course. Now hurry up and get some sleep. You don’t want to miss saying goodbye to your sister when she leaves.”

Pinkie lets out a sigh. “You’re right.”

Anon sets down Pinkie and looks over at Spitfire. “Don’t you have a show tomorrow?”

Spitfire’s eyes widen a bit at hearing that.

“Oh, um...” She starts to look a bit nervous. “Yeah. I guess I do.”

“Seriously, I had a lot of fun and it was nice that you came by. No need to get wasted.”

“Yeah, I get it. Still, wouldn’t mind at least one drink.” Spitfire adds.

Anon can only shake his head at that. With the tone set, all of the mares say their goodbyes to Anon. Making sure to give him a hug, with Pinkie being the only pony that requires a few mares to tear her off Anon. She’s always been melodramatic when it comes to saying goodbye. As Anon’s friends start leaving he notices one mare stay behind.

“Trixie hoped we would have time to chat but she was a bit late.” She says looking upset.

“Well, I’m no longer working, so you can stop by anytime.” Anon adds.

Trixie nods at that. “You’re correct. Though Trixie hopes you are prepared to be graced by her presence?”

Anon scoffs. “Yeah, lucky me.”

“Trixie shall show herself out.” Trixie turns her nose up as she trots out of the room.

“An interesting collection of friends.” Celestia says.

“Well, they’re good ponies.”

“That is without a doubt.” A new voice comes in.

Anon and Celestia look over to find Luna standing there.

“There you are.” Anon states. “I thought you had went off to bed.”

Luna smiles some as she look between her sister and Anon.

“Well, it’s the day of your return. I wouldn’t think of sleeping alone tonight.”

That’s about as much as Anon expected. It was kinda their thing, as weird as that is, but something he too has come to accept. Anon can feel Celestia press him into her chest with her wing.

“A thought I mirror.” She adds. “However, we must bathe before we bed.”

That... was the weirdest thing he’s ever heard Celestia say. Though he doesn’t take it out of context. He’s already learned from his mistakes about misunderstanding something.

“I guess that’s true.” Anon adds still feeling a bit weird about bathing with the sisters.

“Let’s not sit here idly!” Luna says with a smile. “Come!”

Before either Celestia or Anon can say anything, Luna teleports them to the royal bathhouse.

* * *

Spike has been watching Twilight wandering the halls from afar. He has no idea what’s going on with her but he knows that it’s gotta be something big to put her in this mood. Nothing he can remember compares to how Twilight is acting right now. Sure, he’s seen her down in the dumps, he’s seen her sad, even seen her go mental over a completely arbitrary assignment for the princess, but this was an entirely different level. She seems almost disconnected with the world around her. Simply walking without so much as a single care for who or what is around her. He has to do something, he can’t stand to see Twilight like this.

Spike runs up to Twilight and walks beside her.

“Twilight, are you alright?” He asks matching her pace. She doesn’t respond. It’s like she’s zoned out. He pokes her a few times. “Twilight?”

Twilight stops in place and slowly looks over at Spike. Her eyes still creepily devoid of emotion. Something he’s only seen from one creature, Anon. However, her eyes show a slightly sparkle as she seems to come back to reality.

“S-Spike?” She looks around the hall a bit dazed. “What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here? What are you doing here? You’ve been walking around the castle for hours now. Don’t you know what time it is?”

Twilight looks over to an open window and notices the sun is no longer in the sky.

“Guess I’ve been busy.” She says as she turns to Spike. “Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

“How can I sleep when you’re walking the halls?” He asks. “What’s wrong with you?”

Twilight turns away from Spike. She doesn’t know what to say, that’s actually wrong, she knows exactly what to say but saying it would tell him the truth of what happened in Ponyville. So she doesn’t know what to tell him. In one hoof, Spike is worried about her and wants to help but this isn’t something he can help with nor is it something she wants him to be involved in. In the other, she feels completely isolated with no one to turn to.

“I’ve just had a lot of stuff put on my plate.” Twilight says. “I’ve been studying for so long and I don’t know if what I’ve learned is even helpful anymore.”

“Why are you studying social stuff anyways?” Spike asks confused. “You already have friends.”

Twilight lets out a sigh. “I don’t know a lot about what makes a pony tick, let alone another creature. If you ask me about magic, I can answer without a single error but if you ask me about what is the appropriate way to tell someone you’re sorry, then I’m stumped.”

Spike has no idea what she’s talking about. He’s still fuzzy on why they’re here to begin with. Though it seems that it’s really important to Twilight, enough to turn her into the walking mess she is now.

“Why can’t you just say you’re sorry?” He asks innocently.

“It’s not that simple. I did something pretty awful.”

“More awful than when I destroyed Ponyville with my greed?”

“Yeah.”

“Yikes...” Spike thinks for a moment. “Well, why can’t you just say you’re sorry and then try and help fix what you did? That’s what we did.”

Twilight lets out a sigh. “I can’t fix what I broke, Spike. No matter how many years pass, it’ll never be what it was.”

This is so complicated. Not only because Spike still has no idea what Twilight is talking about but it seems that whatever she did has a no win scenario. Though if Spike has learned anything from his time in Ponyville, it’s that there’s no such thing as a no win scenario. You just have to try hard enough and everything will work out in the end.

“Why not just give it a try?” Spike urges. “It’s not like walking around the castle will accomplish anything. I’m sure if you’re sincere in your apology then everything will be just fine.”

Twilight doesn’t have the heart to tell him that not everything can work out in the end. She doesn’t want him to lose that innocence about him. She doesn’t know how long she can protect him from the truth but acting how she is now will only accelerate it. She must put on a fake smile for him, if only to make him feel better. Twilight feels another shock inside of her heart... T-That train of thought, is that another thing Anon felt? Is that why he never told anyone about what was happening? To protect them from the truth?

Twilight can feel her eyes glisten some but she quickly wipes them away as she looks at Spike with a forced smile.

“You’re right... I’ve just been obsessing about what would happen.” She takes a deep breath in to calm her nerves, another trait she recalls Anon doing a lot. “Are you hungry?”

Spike can feel his worry for Twilight melt some as he sees her mood brighten some.

“Uh” His stomach lets out a large growl. “Yeah, I could go for something.”

Twilight chuckles hollowly... This mask she has on, it hurts in a way, yet it’s the only thing she can do to make Spike not worry about her. She feels so heavy, a burden unlike any other is on her back, but despite her suffering, she’s content with the idea that her problems are no longer hurting Spike. Again she feels that shot in her heart of realisation... There’s so much she doesn’t understand about Anon but she’s starting to see what he was going through, if only by a little.

* * *

This is never going to become normal for Anon. He’s just standing there watching both sisters walk into the bath after having disrobed. They do it so casually because it’s something that’s fine with them. He still has the hesitation inside of him. Not to mention he in many ways was lucky the first time. Luna pushed him into the water and then removed his clothes. That’s not the case this time. He’s going to have to get naked in front of them and then get into the bath.

The thought alone is enough to get his heart racing. There aren’t many things that bother Anon but he’s never liked the idea of being nude. There’s something about it that makes him feel vulnerable. Perhaps it’s the idea of being exposed to the elements but he knows it’s the thoughts of those around to see him that fill him with fear. The thought of being looked at, examined... He feels a chill run up his spine, a thought of Twilight flashing into his thoughts.

“Are you coming in?” Luna asks Anon.

Anon looks up to see both sisters are already in the bath, the two of them having their sights directly on Anon. Why do they have to look at him like that? It’s almost like they are being given a show of some kind. Celestia and Luna feel as if they are getting a show. While they have bathed with Anon before, they’ve never actually seen anything past his waist. Though with how they feel about him, their interests of his _anatomy_ are starting to pique.

“Do you two mind turning around?” Anon asks.

“Is there a problem?” Celestia asks.

“Not much of a problem, I just don’t like being seen naked.”

Luna raise a brow. “Even amongst friends?”

“I’d just feel more comfortable with not being seen.”

Luna will admit she is curious to see what Anon has and this may be the only chance she gets. So, Luna gets an idea. An awful idea. Luna has a wonderful, awful idea.

“Do you care to see what I have? Perhaps a sharing of genitals would quell your worries?”

Both Celestia and Anon’s face fill red with embarrassment over what Luna is suggesting. Anon has no idea how to respond to that. He would assume Luna is just messing with him but her face is totally serious. Is this the D club Anon has heard about? Then again, when has a D club ever had a female in it? This is weird on so many levels but what Luna says is also true. This is just everyday life for ponies. Ponies are nude most of the time, even when they wear clothes a lot of it doesn’t even cover their hind end.

There’s a culture war going on inside of Anon. He really doesn’t want to be seen naked but he’s not on earth anymore. It’s been years and while he’s slowly been trying to adjust, there’s a lot of things he finds difficult to do... Still, these are also his closest friends and he trusts them a lot, with his life even... So, is it so wrong? It’s just his body, nothing more... Ugh, this is still weird...

“I already know what yours looks like. I’ve walked behind ponies a lot.” Anon remarks.

Luna can feel her face redden some but she also smiles at that.

“I think it’s only fair we see what you have. Think of it as a cultural exchange?”

Celestia can tell her sister is drunk on her love for Anon. It’s causing her to push far past what she would normally ask of him. However, as much as Celestia wants to protest, she too is interested in seeing what Anon has. He’s clearly not a pony, so there’s no way it’d look even remotely the same. Celestia shakes her head at those thoughts. She can’t think like that right now! She needs to ensure Anon feels alright with what’s happening.

“We will turn around if that’s what you wish.” Celestia speaks out. “I understand that where you come from is far different than Equestria. I don’t want to push you into something that you are uncomfortable with.”

Anon winces inside... He’s making a big deal out of nothing. There are plenty of places on earth where being naked is totally fine. If anything, this is just another step of growing his friendship with the sisters. If only they were brothers, then it’d be a lot less awkward. Who is he kidding, it’d be an entirely new level of awkward.

“F-Fine.” Anon stutters out.

Celestia and Luna hold their breaths as Anon takes off his jacket. Is this hotspring getting hotter? Both sisters cannot turn away as they watch him disrobe. This is the first time either of them have felt such a strong yearning for something in their life. Enough to light a fire inside of the both of them. They start sweating as their bodies get hotter. Why is this so exciting? Anon finally works his way down to his boxers. He looks back up to see both sisters have their sights trained on him.

Why do they have to look at him like that? He knows he’s a weird human but do they really have to be so blatant about looking at his junk? He’s already in too deep. He can’t back out now, no matter how awkward this is. Anon finally man's up and drops his underwear. It feels as if time slows for him but he pushes past that as he walks over and gets into the bath.

Both sisters are stuck in shock. They actually saw it! It looked so different from what they know and yet that did little to cool the burning flame that is now an inferno. It takes them a few moments to notice Anon has taken his seat between them, his face completely red. Luna’s face quickly grows into a smile.

“We are proud of you, Anon.” She says as she stands up and turn her hind end to Anon. “Now to show you what I have.”

Without a single moment of hesitation, Luna tosses her tail onto her back. Anon’s eyes go wide at the sight before him. Just as quickly as he seen it, Luna drops her tail. She’s giggle to herself as Anon covers his red face. Well, that’s an image he’ll never forget.

“Now that that’s over, can we just act normal for now?” Anon practically pleads.

“O-Of course.” Celestia says still stunned by what her sister just did.

Luna cuddles up to Anon. “Admit it, you feel better now, don’t you?”

He really doesn’t want to admit that but yeah, Luna’s right. It wasn’t anything special for him to be seen nude nor was it special for Luna to show him her privates. This is just normal for them. So all he can do is accept what has happened and try his best to suppress the voice shouting in the back of his mind about Luna’s vagina.

“Maybe I was overthinking this.” Anon admits. “Still doesn’t make it any less weird.”

“I’m proud you’ve taken such a big step for yourself.” Celestia comes in.

“Let just... not talk about this anymore, alright?”

“That’s fine.” Luna says. “So, wash me?” She asks.

Anon hangs his head slightly. No rest for him it seems.

“Sure.”

This entire turn of events is weird for Anon and while he won’t admit it to the sisters. This moment is enough to help him forget about all the bad stuff that happened today. He’s thankful in many ways for them and it’s only because of them that he’s willing to challenge himself to do more.


	25. Facing forward

Anon is alone in his dream. He has no idea where Luna is but for one reason or another she’s not here. He can only assume she's busy with something dream related. That’s fine by him, seeing as he has a lot on his mind at the moment. A lot happened yesterday and while he hopes that the Bonbon and Lyra issue is officially over, he gets the feeling that it’s only a matter of time until Bonbon contacts him. She’s never been one to give up without a fight.

Though for now it’s not something he should be concerned with. There’s an issue that disturbs him, thanks to one pony. Twilight. Just thinking about her sours his mood. That Cadance pony may just be the first sign of more trouble to come Anon’s way. Should he expect more ponies knocking on his door and telling him of all the woes Twilight is suffering? What if the next time the pony isn’t in the mood for talking? At least he knows that Blossom or one of her guards will be around to protect him, so that’s not something he’ll worry about.

Still, it’s a hinderance to his life. One that he can’t escape. The fact is, even if Twilight wasn’t here to study, he’d run into her eventually. She’s an element of harmony. She’s the student of Celestia. The chances of her and her friends coming to Canterlot for one reason or another is without question. So the idea that Anon could avoid her, especially with her practically living here now, was a farfetched notion to begin with. He always knew it would happen but, in a way, he hoped he had more time.

_“I’m sure living with the burden of the past is a tiring venture.”_

Cadance was right in that thought. What happened is always on Anon’s mind, weighing him down. Maybe telling Twilight how he feels could help him but it’s a risk. Anon brings up his hand to his mouth as he chews his fingernails in thought. Everything inside of him screams at the idea of being near that mare. Like she’s made of poison. Even though he knows he’s safe, he doesn’t feel safe. Anon lets out a grunt. These pointless thoughts are starting to irritate him.

“What troubles you?” A voice whispers into his ear.

Anon jumps slightly as he looks over his shoulder to see Luna standing there.

“Just some things.”

“Anything I can help with?” Luna wraps her wings around Anon.

“I don’t think anyone can help me with this.”

“Try me.”

Anon takes a moment to think this over. What will really come of telling Luna about what happened? With Cadance, his thoughts on Twilight. Anon shakes these questions away. He promised himself he’d trust the sisters more, so, he might as well tell Luna everything.

“Cadance,” Anon feels Luna’s wings tense up slightly but relax. “She spoke to me about Twilight.”

Luna sneers slightly at hearing that. So her niece is on that ponies side too? Not that she should be surprised. Celestia told her of the relationship she has with Twilight. Still, to think she would talk to Anon about it?

“What did she say?” Luna asks with annoyance in her tone.

“She told me that I was the only person who could help her. That she’s having problems or something.”

“And that bothers you?”

“No, it’s the last thing she told me. She said that I should understand how lonely Twilight feels.” Anon scoffs. “Why should I care how alone she is? Not that she’s actually alone. She still has Celestia and many other ponies too.”

“So why are you upset?” Luna asks.

“I just...” Anon lets out a sigh. “I will eventually run into her. It’s inevitable. I wish this could all be put behind me and never have to see her again.”

“However, she is still close to my sister.” Luna adds.

“Yeah... Even if she wasn’t here studying, eventually she’d come around for one reason or another.”

“And you’re afraid that what happened will continue to haunt you.” Luna says with a deep understanding of what Anon is feeling right now.

“Heh... Right on the nose.” Anon chuckles hollowly.

Luna pulls Anon closer as she holds him tight.

“I too live in the memories of my past.” She admits. “You know this.”

Anon nods. “I do.”

“All I can do is protect you from what hurts you but I have no solution to what ails you. At least, not a solution that is acceptable in this age.”

Anon remembers the whole ‘beheading’ thing. It would solve his problem but also create a lot more than he’s willing to put up with.

“I’m just confused is all. I don’t want to forgive Twilight, I don’t care how much she’s hurting but what happened still haunts me... Could getting that off my chest really help me move on?”

Luna nuzzles Anon slightly.

“My sister would encourage you but I fear for you far more than myself. I worry about all of the things that could happen if you were to do such a thing, thoughts I’m sure we share in kind. However, unlike my sister, I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe, even if it harms others.”

“You don’t need to go that far.”

“I don’t need to but it’s what I would do, for you.”

Hearing Luna say that makes Anon feel better. Knowing he has someone he can trust is still something that’s hard for him to come to terms with. Though Luna in many ways is a different story. Unlike Blossom or even Celestia, she’s gone above and beyond to become closer to him. The problem he has with Luna is that she’s willing to sacrifice things for him, while Celestia tries to find a balance. He cares too much for Luna to let her do anything that would hurt her life, even if it’s for his sake.

“Thank you. Let’s just hope it doesn’t come down to that. Still, It’s not like Cadance has suddenly made me realise this... It’s always been a thought, if only a whisper. Just, having someone confront me about it has brought it to the top of my thoughts. Like I said before, Twilight can rot for all I care but I’ve never told her to her face everything that happened to me, how it affected me and how I feel about her.”

“I’m sure the truth will cause more harm to her but in that pain you will lift a burden from your own shoulders.”

Anon nods his head. “Pretty much my thoughts on the matter.”

“I will not keep you from doing what you feel is right. I just ask that you be careful.”

Anon turns around and hugs Luna.

“It’s still a thought but for now I’ll play this close to the chest.”

“Very well. Would you care to learn more about dreamwalking?”

Anon smiles slightly. “Sure, I’ve got the time.”

“Very well, then follow me.”

* * *

Anon and Luna have spent what feels like hours walking around and practicing various dreamwalking techniques. It’s been some time since Anon has done such a thing so they did a small refresher before moving on to more advanced things. Such as grasping more information about the dream or even the pony dreaming before entering inside. Anon was able to identify a pony by name, a pony he never met.

It’s fun learning all this dream stuff but as Luna and him walk down the hall of doors, he feels his eyes drift over to one door in particular... Nightmare’s door. He stops in front of it, his mind wondering what she’s doing right now.

“You don’t have to worry about her, Anon.” Luna speaks with some venom. “She will not harm you.”

Anon doesn’t know what to say. He doesn’t believe Nightmare is that bad of a pony, at least from the short amount of time he’s been around her. However, telling Luna that will fall on deaf ears. Still, he doesn’t want to lie to Luna, he doesn’t want to lie to any of his friends. So, with a heavy heart, Anon decides to do something he may soon regret.

“Luna, can I tell you something, something that’ll upset you?” Anon asks never looking away from Nightmare’s door.

Something that’ll upset her? This is a very odd question for Anon to ask.

“What would that be?” She asks confused.

Well, it’s now or never.

“I’ve talked to Nightmare Moon when you weren’t around... On more than one occasion.”

Silence. That’s all Anon can hear as what he says sinks in. All of the fur on Luna’s body stands on edge as she realises what he just said.

“W-What?!” She shouts not in anger but concern. “Do you have any idea how dangerous she is?”

This is about as much as Anon expected. Still, he can’t stop now.

“I just get this weird feeling that she isn’t as evil as everyone says she is.” He lets out a sigh as he finds his own reasons are flawed. “When I first touched her door, I felt something that wasn’t evil and it’s been on my mind the entire time.”

Anon’s vision is turned from the door as Luna locks eyes with him. She’s dead serious at this moment.

“You don’t know her like I do. She _is_ evil, looking for anything to help her escape the prison she’s been locked in. You are nothing more than a pawn in her game and I will not allow you to be played like I once was. So, please, do not enter her dream again.”

Anon can see the pleading look deep within Luna’s eyes. He... He can’t deny her this. The fact is, he knows nothing about Nightmare Moon and siding with her is just plain stupid. Luna’s probably right anyway. Maybe that feeling he had was just her trying to mess with his head? Still, why didn’t she try anything the other times he came to her?

He just lets out a sigh as he turns away from Luna.

“I guess you’re right. Just was odd is all.” Anon looks down at the floor in thought. “For being called a monster... She doesn’t act like one.”

With that said, Anon walks off back towards his own dream door. He doesn’t pause as he walks inside, leaving Luna to do her own thing. All Luna can do is stand there and reflect on what Anon has told her. She knows the whole _monster_ thing is a sensitive subject for him and is perhaps an angle Nightmare Moon is trying to use to manipulate him. Luna shakes her head some as she walks up to Anon’s door and rests her hoof on it.

He’s confused but content with what they’ve spoke of. Usually Luna would be alright with letting Anon do something he believes is right but this isn’t something she’s willing to accept. She knows it would only be a matter of time until Nightmare tried to hurt Anon and she’d never forgive herself if she let that happen. Luna is just about to remove her hoof until she feels something resonating off of his door.

A trace of magic that wasn’t there before. Luna looks confused for a second until she recognises the magic on his door. It’s not as elegant as her own but instead more forceful. Without a doubt, this was a cleansing spell to remove a nightmare. This was not cast by her hoof and it makes no sense that Anon would clear his own nightmare from outside of his own realm. Luna hesitantly looks over to Nightmare Moon’s door

There is no other pony allowed into this hall of dreams and Luna would suspect no other pony than Nightmare Moon to have stepped hoof here. That isn’t what disturbs Luna. What disturbs her is the fact that Nightmare Moon, for reasons unknown, helped Anon with a nightmare of her own volition.

“This complicates things.” Luna whispers as she turns away and walks back to her throne room.

She has a lot to think about but the sun will rise soon and with that a new day will begin.

* * *

Celestia feels that internal clock of hers go off as she starts casting her spell to raise the sun. She lets out a small yawn as the start of another day is before her. However, there’s something different this time around. She smiles a bit as she opens her eyes to see Anon between her and Luna. His back is pressed firmly to Celestia’s chest as Luna is pressed against his.

Celestia rests her muzzle gently on the back of Anon’s head as she takes in his scent. Her eyes fall closed as she allows it to fill her lungs. His natural musk is calming for her. Knowing that he’s here, in her hooves, is enough to ease her worries. Though as her eyes open, she does feel a small twinge in her heart. A blush grows on her face as her mind starts to wander.

She would want nothing more than to tell Anon how much she loves him as he wakes but it’s still too early for her to make that move. She wants the moment to be perfect. Celestia then looks over to her sister. It’s one thing to convince Anon into a relationship but Celestia worries far more for her sister. She has no idea how Anon would react to the idea of a herd but, if she can convince him, Celestia is fine with sharing. In a weird way, it’d actually makes her feel better, knowing that not only herself but also her sister can be happy too.

Though this is all assuming that Anon even wants to go that far in their friendship... For all she knows, he’ll turn them down, just like that Lyra pony. Maybe he’s more interested in Luna? There’s too many things about this that terrifies Celestia in a way she’s never been before. It’s truly the discovery of the unknown for her and she knows that Anon is highly volatile.

Still, even with all her worries, she wants no other than him. She is brought from her thought as she notices Anon start to move slightly.

“Good morning.” Celestia whispers into his ear.

“Morning.” He replies in a grumbly voice.

“Is it morning already?” Luna asks.

“Yes it is.” Celestia states. “Time to get breakfast.”

“Five more minutes.” Luna states as she buries her head into her pillow.

“Mmm? Well I guess Anon and I will be bathing without you.”

Celestia notices Luna’s ears perk up towards her.

“Another bath?” Anon says still in bed. “We took one last night.”

“And it’s the start of a new day.” Celestia replies. “Come now, we won’t be long and the warm water will help you wake up.”

Anon yawns, he’s not going to get out of this.

“Whatever.”

He lugs himself out of bed and walks over to the bathroom door that leads to the bathhouse and walks inside before any of the sisters get out of bed. If he’s going to take a bath, he’s getting in before they do. Celestia watches Anon enter into the bathhouse and looks down to her sister.

“So?”

Luna lets out a grunt. “Using Anon’s body as leverage isn’t fair play.”

“Seems fair to me.”

Luna kicks off her covers and gets to her hooves.

“Well, guess it’s time to start the day.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

With that straightened out. Both Luna and Celestia enter the bathhouse after Anon.

* * *

Finally, Anon can have something to eat. He hasn’t noticed it until now but he hasn’t had anything to eat in awhile. He didn’t get anything to eat at the party last night or the “party” Lyra had. He feels fatigued and his stomach hurts. His hands are shaking slightly as he tries to lift his fork to his mouth. Yeah, definitely starving at this point. He’s lucky that neither of the sisters have noticed yet.

His meal is a simple one but he feels content with how things are now. It’s as if nothing has changed. However, that line of thought comes to an end as the door to the dining halls opens. Standing there is Twilight and beside her Spike. Anon’s hands are shaking immensely as he sets his fork down. His eyes are locked onto her as his heart starts to race. Twilight’s eyes meet his, there’s a good level of surprise but she quickly turns away from him.

“Um... Actually, Spike. How about we go out for breakfast?”

“What are you talking about?” He asks confused. “We’re already here.” He then notices who’s at the table. “Whoa! Is that Anon?”

Twilight can’t pull Spike away. He’ll question why. So, Twilight does the only thing that comes to mind. She puts on a fake smile for Spike.

“I guess I should’ve made that suggestion before we got here.” Twilight giggles hollowly. “It would be rude to leave now that everypony knows we’re here.”

Both sisters are looking at Twilight. They forgot she was even here, seeing as being close to Anon has clouded some of their thoughts. Now their gaze moves over to Anon as he keeps his sights on Twilight. Anon can’t look away from Twilight in this moment. It happened so quickly but to Anon it was as if time slowed for him. At first she was genuinely surprised, then her feelings mixed. Pain, regret, sorrow. She didn’t want to be here but then Spike spoke.

That’s when it happened. All of those emotions, gone. A response Anon recognises all too well. That plastic smile, her hollow laugh. Even the way she holds herself is reminiscent to a marionette doll, as if she’s being strung along by an unseen force. To anyone else, she’d look normal but to Anon he can see far more and it’s disturbing. She’s now trotting towards the table and every step he can see how she flinches, like her body is fighting her. Spike is right behind her, oblivious and even the sisters appear to be none the wiser.

Twilight has her eyes on Anon the entire time. Before, everything he did felt like a mystery to her but now she can actually see something deeper. Each step she takes causes him to flinch away, his grasp on the table turning his knuckles white as he fights to keep himself from moving. His face blank but his eyes showing far more emotion than she’s ever realised.

It hurts so much. Each step fills her body with pain. She would cry in agony if it weren’t for Spike standing beside her. This is the closest she’s been to Anon since what happened in Ponyville and it’s unbearable. This again, reminds Twilight what Anon must’ve felt like during his time in Ponyville. In a weird way, feeling this pain makes Twilight feel better. She takes her seat at the farthest end of the table, away from Anon.

The entire room is filled with silence. Not a single word being said. Celestia can see that Anon is fighting to stay in his seat and his gaze hasn’t once turned away from Twilight. She decides to try and keep everything civil.

“Um... Good morning, Twilight. Spike.”

“Morning!” Spike says with glee.

“Good morning, Princess.” Twilight speaks calmly but decides to not look Anons way.

Luna rests her wing around Anon in an attempt to calm him. It doesn’t help, he’s completely focused on Twilight right now. Spike continues to look oblivious to everything that’s going on as he turns to a waiter.

“I’ll have a bowl of amethyst, please.”

“Just some oats for me.” Twilight adds.

Twilight notices the look Luna is giving her. It’s enough to run a shiver up her spine. Was this another aspect Anon dealt with? When the entire town thought he was doing awful things... Twilight winces on the inside. He had an entire town hating him, even though he did nothing wrong.

“Where have you been, Anon?” Spike asks. “I only seen you that one time when Twilight and I were heading to her parents house.”

Twilight perks up a bit hearing this... Wait, when was Anon there? Spike was with her the entire time and she doesn’t recall seeing him. Then she remembers, when she was reading that book and the scent. So that was Anon? Twilight looks over at Anon and notices his eyes are still locked on her. The look he’s giving her, it’s as if she’s a dangerous animal that will attack if he were to look away.

“Had to help with my store.” Anon answers calmly. “You know the candy shop?”

Spike taps a claw to his chin. “I’ve hear ponies talk about it but I haven’t been there.”

“Well, everything’s in order. I suggest you try it sometime.”

“That sounds pretty good. Right, Twilight?”

Twilight looks down at Spike with a smile. “Y-Yeah... How about we visit after eating?”

“Awesome!” Spike says as the waiter sets down their meal.

Anon can’t keep doing this... He hasn’t eaten and if he misses this meal then who knows how that’ll affect him? Everything about this situation is screaming at him to leave but as long as Twilight stays on her side of the table, he’ll keep acting as if nothing is wrong. He grabs his fork, his hands shaking uncontrollably but he ignores that as he starts eating, still maintaining eye contact with Twilight.

Twilight looks away from him as she eats her meal. It seems that Anon will tolerate her for the moment. She will admit that she feels exhausted having to keep up this facade. Yet Anon looks as if this is normal for him... Then again, his hands are shaking as he eats. Twilight can’t hold back the physical wince she does, it’s hard for her to pretend like this. Anon notices that slip of her mask. He doesn’t think too much on it as he tries to finish his meal as fast as possible but not fast enough to draw attention.

“So, Anon.” Celestia decides to try and draw his attention. “I was wondering if you would be interested in helping me today?”

“Sure.”

Blunt, cold and serious. Celestia can tell that Anon doesn’t like the fact that Twilight is here right now but she can’t tell her to leave either. There’s much for her to learn before she can go back to Ponyville.

“There’s day court.” Celestia lists feeling uncomfortable with the unbreakable gaze Anon has on Twilight. “Then after that I need to head out into Canterlot to check on a few events coming up.” She looks over to her sister for help but her sister is looking at Twilight as well. “The last thing is a meeting with a few leaders that want to negotiate a few things. You don’t need to be there for all of that but it’s my schedule for the day.”

“I’ve got nothing better to do.” He answers as he pushes his empty plate away. “I’ll be waiting in my room when you’re ready.”

He doesn’t say anything else as he gets up from his seat, gives Twilight a wide berth as he walks around and leaves the dining hall. Once again everyone falls silent.

“Y-You seem pretty busy.” Twilight remarks. “I guess there’s no training for me today?”

Celestia lets out a sigh. “Yeah... For now, you’ll spend some time studying with Spike.”

“Perhaps I can be of assistance.” Luna comes in. “I have no plans and if you’re taking Anon with you then I might as well fill my time with something.”

Celestia can tell that her sister doesn’t like Twilight. That much is clear but she also has no reason to deny her request either. It’s true that until the meeting, Luna won’t have much to do.

“I guess that’s fine.” Celestia clears her throat. “My sister will be helping you today.”

Twilight shrinks some in her seat.

“O-Ok...”

Celestia look to her own empty plate, happy to not have to deal with this awkward situation anymore.

“I better go help Anon get dressed. We need to look our finest today.” Celestia gets up from her seat. “I’ll see you all later.” Celestia stops and pats Spike on the head before she passes. “Bye.”

Once Celestia is gone the table goes silent. Now there’s only Twilight, Spike and Luna. Twilight looks down to her bowl, most of it still full. Spike’s is completely empty.

“Um... How about we head over to that candy shop Anon was talking about?” Twilight urges Spike.

“Don’t you want to finish your meal first?”

“Yes, Twilight. I’m sure you’ll be needing all the energy you can get.” Luna remarks.

“I-I’m fine.” Twilight gets out of her seat. “I had a big meal last night and I don’t feel very hungry.”

Twilight pulls Spike out of his seat and places him onto her back. She quickly trots to the dining room door but stops when she hears Luna speak.

“I want you back here by lunch for your training.” Luna says with authority. “Don’t be late.”

Luna watches as Twilight runs out of the dining hall. Anon doesn’t have to worry about that mare, Luna will make sure of it.


	26. First to leap

Twilight lets out a long sigh as she follows behind Spike as they walk around Canterlot. Her mind thinking about all that she’s done and what her plans were when she came to Canterlot. Before, it all was so clear to her. All she needed to do was gain Anon’s forgiveness. In her mind it was like a magic problem that could be solved. That with the right words and actions, she could get Anon to realise how sorry she was. Yet these new feelings have enlightened her. This is a road she must travel down and perhaps at the end she will find an answer.

She worries if she can carry a weight like this for long. Anon has been doing it for over a year and it must’ve been hard for him. To keep walking the streets of Ponyville, acting as if nothing was wrong, all for the sake of his friends. He’s strong and yet Twilight knows how weak he must feel. To live with this burden day by day. It’s just one of many things he must carry.

Twilight doesn’t want to think about the things her friends did but it’s a thought worth keeping in mind. He must be in so much pain... For once, Twilight feels as if she understands Anon and it’s painful to wonder if on the inside he’s in agony, looking for some way to lift all the burden on his shoulders.

“Where was the place again?” Spike asks.

Twilight snaps out of her darker thoughts as she notices Spike looking her way.

“I think it’s a few stores down.” Twilight remarks.

“Nice!” Spike says with excitement.

Twilight takes a deep breath in and slowly lets it out. She just stepped hoof onto this road, she still has a long way to go.

* * *

Anon is sitting beside Celestia as she talks to various ponies. His thoughts are currently thinking about other things at the moment. His luck is finally running out and it’s been a long time coming. This entire Twilight thing can’t be ignored anymore. Now that he’s back in the castle, he will be seeing her more often. Breakfast, lunch and even dinner. She may even show up at the royal bathhouse for all he knows. He’s being pushed into a corner with very few options to take.

Leaving is out of the question. Before he became friends with the sisters, it would’ve been an easy choice. Now, the thought of leaving them, of being alone, fills him with a pain he’s never felt before. Anon looks over at Celestia as she smiles to her subject, her princess mask hiding the tired expression she feels. It’s odd how easily Anon can see this now. Then a thought comes to mind... Could he be the reason she’s so tired?

Anon turns away from her as he peers off into the distance. The thought is disturbing but in many ways makes sense. The fact of the matter is, he’s never once asked her how she felt about the entire Twilight situation. While it’s true that he didn’t ask her to punish Twilight, he never did talk to her about how she felt during the trial. Celestia has been watching over Twilight for more years than Anon has known her.

He remembers Celestia telling him how she hoped Twilight would drop the whole ‘Princess’ thing. Clearly they are close. Close enough that Celestia wanted to become friends with Twilight, to no longer be teacher and student. So what did she feel during that punishment? How does she feel now? It must’ve hurt her deeply and Anon’s the cause of that pain.

Anon grits his teeth... He told them that he’d try to be a better friend but he’s failed again. His fear of Twilight has become toxic to his thoughts. The constant questions, worries and what ifs. Even when Celestia told him she was bringing Twilight to the castle, he couldn’t understand it. He felt betrayed in a way, even though deep down he knew Celestia was doing it for the right reasons.

Because of his fears, he didn’t care what Celestia thought. All he knew was that he couldn’t be around Twilight. That he would be hurt eventually if she was around. Celestia accepted this and put herself through stress for his sake. Anon is angry at himself. He never wanted to hurt Celestia and yet now it’s abundantly clear to him that he has. Even if she doesn’t admit it, he knows he has.

Anon looks up to see the pony that was speaking to Celestia walk out. Celestia looks over at Anon and gives him a genuine smile, not like the kind she gives her subjects. He doesn’t deserve her kindness or friendship. Not with what he’s done.

“Anon?” Celestia notices that something is bothering Anon. “Are you doing alright?”

This can’t go on forever. It hurts so much inside for Anon, far more than his fear of Twilight. He rests his hand on Celestia’s hoof, more to calm himself than anything else. Celestia would be ecstatic about something like this happening but can sense that something is troubling Anon deeply.

“Tia, I have something important I want to ask you.”

“I’m listening.”

Anon takes a moment to steady his thoughts as he decides to get this over with.

“Do you want me to forgive Twilight?”

Silence. That’s all Anon hears. It feels as if time has slowed but no matter how much time has passed Celestia doesn’t say a word. So, he decides to lay it out on the table for her.

“I never did ask you how you felt during that trial.” Anon states. “You’ve known Twilight for years and I never thought about how that affected you. I was afraid and because of that fear I’ve hurt you. I don’t know what to do but this is all I can offer.” Anon locks eye with Celestia. “Just for you, Tia... If you ask me, I will forgive Twilight.”

Anon sits there, eyes locked with Celestia. She looks shocked as she sits there in silence. There’s nothing else for Anon to say, so he sits there and waits. For Celestia, everything sinks in for her. Her shock falls to a smile as she closes her eyes. Anon is always carrying so many worries. Even now, he can only think about how his choices have affected her. Perhaps that’s why she loves him so much.

She does the only thing that comes natural for her. She leans over and pulls Anon to her chest, wrapping her wings around him.

“It must be tiring to burden yourself so much.” Celestia speaks softly.

“I’m sure we both know the feeling.” Anon states.

“I do. It almost becomes routine after a while. Just another thing to add to the list.” Celestia looks down at Anon as he looks up at her. “Though recently, you’ve helped lift some of that weight.” Anon looks a bit confused but Celestia continues. “I know it’s hard for oneself to see their own accomplishments but you’ve done many things to help me and my sister. Even if you can’t see it, just having you by my side is enough to ease my pain.”

“But what abou-”

Celestia rests a wing tip on his lips.

“I would never ask you to forgive Twilight if it wasn’t your choice.” Celestia lets out a bit of a sad sigh. “I will admit, some of the things you said is true. It hurt me deeply to punish Twilight.” Anon tries to look away but she brings him back to facing her. “Because I failed her as a teacher and in turn that failure hurt you.”

“But I don’t blame you for that.” Anon says. “There was no way you could’ve know something like that would’ve happened.”

Celestia can only smile at his words as she nuzzles him. “You are right but she is my student and I have neglected things to help her grow as a pony. Because of this, I find the need to teach her, to help her understand. Perhaps one day you will forgive her but I wouldn’t want it to be something you force.” She stops nuzzling him and rests a hoof on his chest. “It must come from here and nowhere else.”

 

Anon can’t look away from Celestia’s eyes. Why does he feel so much love and understanding when he looks at her? It’s almost as if he can do no wrong and that everything he says has so much meaning to her. He doesn’t deserve a friend like her. Yet, to not have her would be far too painful for him to imagine. So, with a long sigh of defeat, he simply accepts what is happening.

“I don’t know what to say.” Anon admits.

“Don’t worry. Nothing else needs to be said.”

Anon may not have words to say but he decides to just hold onto her tightly. Where words fail him, he can only hope she understands how much he appreciates her.

* * *

Luna took notice of her captains mood last night and decided now was as good time as any to pay her a visit to make sure she is doing alright. It’s been awhile since Luna stepped hoof into the barracks. As soon as she does all of the knights within take immediate notice of who is standing there. Many of them quickly stop what they are doing so that they can solute their princess. It’s sad for her to admit that she doesn’t recognise many faces here.

Thestrals are very rare and few are within her ranks. Taking a look around she notices varying ponies and even races. It seems Blossom has expanded the knights. It’s comforting for Luna to see that Blossom has been hard at work for all these years.

“At ease.” Luna speaks to everyone facing her.

Without another word they relax. Luna came here for a reason, so she walks over to her captain's door and enters inside. She finds Blossom behind a large stack of papers. Her ears perk up but she never looks away from her work.

“Morning princess. Any reason you’ve decided to stop by?” She asks, moving her signed paper to one stack and getting a fresh one from another.

“Just a few things that concern me.” Luna closes the door behind her.

Blossom sets her quill down to properly face Luna.

“Is it about Anon?”

Luna shakes her head. “Not today. I’ve actually come to see how you’re doing. You were acting a bit down last night.”

Seems Luna is as perceptive as ever. Not that Blossom is surprised.

“Was lost in thought, Princess. It won’t affect how well I protect Anon.”

Luna walks over and takes a seat.

“I know that and no need for the formalities, Blossom. It’s just us after all.”

Blossom drops her airs and relaxes a bit. She even rotates her head some to ease the stiffness in her neck from all the paperwork.

“Just seeing everyone there brought up some old memories.” Blossom answers.

Luna understand what Blossom is speaking of. She was there when her partner became sick and was there when he passed away. Luna can never forget the cries of her captain as she clung onto her mate while he lay on his deathbed. It’s one of the few things that haunts her to this very day. Not to mention that is was only weeks after when Nightmare Moon took over. It must’ve been hard on Blossom.

“How was he?” Luna asks somberly.

Blossom lets out a sigh. “A bit dirty but I cleaned him up and set flowers out. I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t visited him in awhile.”

“I know I offered it before but I could cast a cleansing spell to keep things clean.”

Blossom shakes her head. “No, thank you. Going back actually helped a bit. I’ll be sure to visit more often.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“Enough of this sad stuff. How about you? You seem to have a lot on your mind.”

Luna doesn’t wish to press if Blossom wants to change the subject.

“Well, there’s plenty to think about with Anon.”

Blossom rolls her eyes. “Spare me the details, I’ve got work to do.”

“Come now. Allow a mare to indulge a little, Blossom.”

“I swear you’re like a mare in heat.”

Luna feels a blush grow on her muzzle.

“He makes me feel like that.”

Blossom just shakes her head. “Can’t you talk to your sister about this stuff?”

“She and Anon are busy at the moment. You’re the only pony I’ve got. Just a few minutes. Please?”

Blossom looks at Luna with an unamused look.

“Fine.”

“Good! So, what do you like about Anon?”

“Really? I don’t like him that way, Luna.”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate something about him.”

Blossom takes a moment to think.

“I guess I like how straightforward he is.”

Luna nods. “Yes! I too adore that about him!”

“Yet, he also knows when to bend the truth for his friends.”

“He is selfless in that regard.”

“So, um... What do you like about him?”

“Mmm?” Luna raises a brow at Blossom. “Well, I happened to see what I liked last night as we bathed.”

Luna covers the huge blush on her face as she starts giggling. Blossom can only sit there in awe of what she sees. Never in her life has she seen Luna act like this before. She must really be in love with the guy for her to practically turn into a school filly with a crush.

“Oh, just thinking about it makes me wa-”

“Alright, few minutes are up!” Blossom shouts with her face now covered in a blush as she gets up from her seat and pushes Luna out.

“I swear just the thought makes me quiver in antici-”

Blossom slams the door to her office shut. That mare is seriously going to fall into her heat is she keeps those thoughts up. Still, Blossom can’t stop herself from smiling some. A small chuckle leaving her as she walks back over to her desk. It’s nice to see her princess look as happy as she is. She deserves it.

* * *

Twilight and Spike both enter into Anon’s store. She’s surprised to see how many different species of customers he has, each group talking amongst themselves as they enjoy whatever they’ve purchased. Spike is already walking to the front register but Twilight peers around the room, checking to see if she recognises anypony. So far she doesn’t.

She steps further into the store and follows Spike. He’s looking through the glass display with a large smile. Twilight looks the items over as well. Everything she sees looks familiar and yet also different. She wonders what could possibly be different about Anon’s candy? It’s enough to draw a crowd and is priced affordably too. Compared to the shops around Canterlot, this is practically a steal.

“Welcome.” A voice calls out.

Twilight looks up from the display and comes face to face with Lyra. However, her gaze is vacant, as if she’s staring past Twilight. Twilight can feel her heart start to race. She knew that his friends worked here, she was prepared for the looks but this isn’t what she expected.

“What would you like?” Lyra asks in a monotone voice.

“Can I have the triple chocolate cookie?” Spike asks.

Lyra doesn’t say anything as she brings up his order. She then looks up and makes eye contact with Twilight. That distant look still there.

“You?”

There’s something wrong here. That much Twilight can sense. She can only speculate it has something to do with Anon. Maybe they had a falling out? Twilight shakes her head. It’s none of her business.

“I’ll have the gummy worms.” Twilight says after glancing at one of the more exotic items.

“Very well.”

Lyra packs their order and sets it onto the counter. Twilight pays the bits and takes the bag from Lyra. Lyra doesn’t even say anything as she walks into the kitchen.

“Did Lyra seem a bit strange?” Spike asks.

“She’s probably tired from all these customers.” Twilight lies.

Spike nods. “There are a lot of creatures here. So where to now?”

Twilight looks up to a clock on the wall. She feels the fur on her body stand on end. It’s almost time for her to meet with Luna.

“We should head back to the castle. It’s almost time for my training.”

“Ugh, fine.”

As Twilight walks, Spike fishes out his cookie and takes a large bite. His eye light up as he looks over at Twilight.

“This is really good!”

As they walk towards the castle, Twilight decides to pull one of the gummy worms from the bag and pop it into her mouth. Her eyes widen as she experiences something she’s never had before. The flavor and texture was so unique and oddly satisfying.

“Whoa... Are they really that good?” Spike asks.

Twilight looks over at Spike and notices that her vision is a bit blurry. She brings up a hoof to her eyes and feels her fur become damp. Why is she crying? For many reasons. When she ate that candy, it made her realise that she knows nothing about Anon. All those times they talked, nothing of it was about him. She just wanted to know about his people and their technology.

Even as she heard the rumors about him in Ponyville. She didn’t care. Brushing it off as nothing and continuing her work as usual. Never did she think that he could make something so sweet and delicate. Yet, when she tasted that candy... She felt as if she found something. Faint as it may be, she feels some hope return. She looks down at Spike.

“Who knew Anon made such great things?”

“Yeah, we should stop by more often!”

“I’d like that.”

With everything Twilight has been feeling, she feels prepared for whatever lies ahead.

* * *

Celestia and Anon walk down the streets of Canterlot towards a specific ponies home. She looks in the corner of her eye and notices that Anon is still deep in thought. What he asked earlier has also taken a good part of her mind. Anon would really forgive Twilight if she asked him? The notion almost flies in the face of what she knows about him. Not that he’s selfish but that he’s rather adamant in what he believe is right and wrong. Though she meant what she said. She would never force him to forgive Twilight if that was his choice.

However, her mind does wander to other things. If she were to tell him that she loved him and wanted to be with him... Would he agree? The idea doesn’t fill Celestia with joy as she would hope but instead she worries. Would he says yes because he too loves her or would he only agree because he believes it would make her happy? As much as she wants to be with him, just like with Twilight, she doesn’t want to force him to do something he doesn’t believe in.

Celestia’s heart winces some. She never expected this to be easy but now she will have to consider if Anon’s reciprocation is due to mutual love or his sense of loyalty. Perhaps being upfront when the time comes would prove fruitful? Celestia shakes her head. There’s no reason to bother thinking about that now. There are many things she would like to plan before popping the question to him. Right now, she just wants to ensure that Anon is following what his heart says.

“So where are we headed?” Anon asks bringing Celestia from her thoughts.

“Fancy Pant’s home. He will be the coordinator for this years Wonder festival.”

“Wonder festival?” Anon asks with a raised brow.

Celestia nods. “It only happens once every ten years. Ponies and creatures from all around push themselves to the limits in various challenges. Medals are given out and our judges are no other than the Wonderbolts themselves.”

“Sounds like the olympics.”

“What’s that?”

“Human version.” Anon answers simply enough.

“Well, you’ll have to tell me all about it when we’re alone.”

“I guess. So, other than medals do the contestants get anything else?”

“That’s up to the judges. Sometimes contestants are accepted into the Wonderbolts. I’ve even taken in a few to join the Royal guard. There are endless possibilities. As for anything official, no, just the medals.”

“That’s cool.”

Celestia finds they are already at Fancy Pant’s home. She walks up to the front door but before she can even knock the door opens wide.

“Good to see you, Princess!” Fancy Pants says with a smile.

“Thank you for taking the time to speak with me.”

“It’s no trouble at all!” He then looks over to see Anon. “Oh and I see you’ve brought this young fellow. What was it again?” He rubs his chin in thought. “Anon! Yes, I do remember you. Now, I’m positive we’ve never officially introduced ourselves.” Fancy extends his hoof. “Fancy Pants the third.”

Anon takes his hoof and gives it a shake. “Anon the human.”

“Where are my manners!” Fancy moves from the doorway. “Please, come in. We have much to discuss about the upcoming event.”

Celestia looks down at Anon and gives him a smile while gesturing her head for him to step in first. He just shrugs and walks ahead of her. Celestia hopes that this event will be something Anon will enjoy.

* * *

Twilight is standing before the library. Spike is by her side as she takes one last breath before stepping inside. Waiting for her is Princess Luna. She’s using her magic to place large stacks of books onto the table where Twilight studies. She pauses and turns over to Twilight. She looks between her and Spike for a moment before staring directly at Twilight.

“Take a seat.” Luna speaks calmly.

Twilight doesn’t say anything as she walks over and sits before the table. Luna pulls a book from the stack and places it in front of Twilight.

“Read.”

Twilight is a bit confused. Besides her direct nature, she can’t sense any hatred coming from Luna. It’s as if she’s actually here to teach her. Twilight takes the book and opens to the first page. She’s surprised to find it’s the tale of the two sisters. Confused, she looks up at Luna.

“Um... What does this have to do with my studies?”

Luna raises a brow. “Isn’t it obvious?” Twilight shakes her head no. “Nightmare Moon was undoubtedly evil but there was a reason why she did what she did... Figure out why and perhaps you will enlighten yourself.”

“Understand... Nightmare Moon?” Twilight is almost baffled by the suggestion.

“Is that too difficult a task? Should we start from the basics?” Luna floats over a foals book on feelings. “Perhaps this is more your speed?”

Alright, that hurt... She looks back up to Luna.

“No... Just give me some time.”

“You have until I return to come up with an answer.” Luna walks towards the door but stops as she looks down at Spike. “Come with me, Twilight must do this alone.”

“Oh, uh... Ok?” He follows behind Luna as they both enter into the hall and leave Twilight alone. He continues to follow her as she walks somewhere he isn’t familiar with. “So, where are we going?”

Luna stops once she’s far enough. She looks down at Spike, almost with a pitying look just before she steels herself over.

“Spike, I have something I need to tell you.”

“Anything, Princess.”

“I think it’s time someone told you why Twilight had to leave Ponyville.”


	27. For what it's worth P1

“I’m so sorry to have to cut this visit short but I have an upcoming meeting I must attend.” Celestia says as Anon and her exit Fancy’s home.

“It’s no trouble, Princess. I assure you. We’ve covered all the important topics, the rest is just filler for the event.” He says giving her a bow.

“I’m confident you have everything under control. This years festival is going to be great!”

“Well, then I must assure that I live up to your expectation, Princess! Now, please don’t allow me to keep you here any longer. Good day to you both.”

“Later, Fancy.” Anon gives him a small wave.

With that all sorted out, Fancy leaves Anon and Celestia alone in front of his home. Anon lets out a long tired sigh. They’ve been in there for hours and the entire conversation was as boring as he thought it would be. They talked about what various stands would be there, entertainment and food, even how much everything would cost. Not to mention that due to the increase of contestants and visitors alike, they needed to move the festival to the colosseum this year, as it was the only place large enough for everything.

A few times Anon was brought into the conversation by Fancy Pants. Asking him if his shop was interested in having a stand this year and things of that nature. Anon kept up a front for him and simply told him that he should ask Bonbon, as she handled all that paperwork stuff. Eventually Fancy’s wife showed up and Anon found her far more interesting than all the boring business stuff they talked about. Mostly because she didn’t look like any pony he’s seen before.

Compared to most ponies, she was very slender and even taller than other mares. Sure, she couldn’t compare to the sisters but she was arguably the same height as Cadance. It’s of no surprise to Anon that some ponies can vary in shapes and sizes but it’s always interesting for him to see a pony that stands against the rest. Hell, he has a filly sized mare that’s his head chef at the shop, so he knows how much these ponies can vary in size.

After talking with her for awhile, she seemed to be a rather nice pony. She held herself well, spoke with confidence and was polite. So Anon found an interesting pony to talk with while Celestia and Fancy conducted business. Anon found out that she’s a big fan of the candy he makes and that Fancy buys her a set of chocolates whenever he passes by on business. Though she did admit that indulging was a bit of a detriment to her figure as she’s a model.

Anon never really thought about it but it makes sense that ponies have models too. He can admit that she’s rather unique and probably really attractive to ponies. After a few hours, things were finally calming down and Celestia noticed the time. So, here they stand now. All in all, it was an alright visit. Certainly could’ve been far more boring than it was.

“That went on longer than I originally planned. I’ll have to visit the other shops at a later date. We need to head back to the castle for my meeting.” Celestia states.

Celestia takes off towards the castle and Anon follows behind her.

“So what’s this meeting about anyways?” Anon asks interested.

“Various things. The trading of goods between nations. Though what it all boils down to is the control over land.” Celestia says seriously. “It happens every year. The discussion of borders and who owns what. Sometimes leaders will attempt to claim more than they own or sneakily place soldiers onto another leaders borders, playing it off as a mistake. Then a long discussion happens, riddled with the underlying threat of war if someone doesn’t get their way. It’s more of a test of wills and each meeting ends the same way, everyone mentally exhausted and no changes being made.”

“Huh...” Anon wasnt expect to hear all that.

“Still,” Celestia pulls Anon to her side with a wing. “If you’re up for it, I’d like to have you there with me.”

“Are you sure that’s alright?” Anon asks unsure if he should be involved with something so important.

“I certainly don’t mind.”

Anon gets the feeling he may not have a choice in this matter.

“If it’s alright, I guess I have no reason to say no.” He says with a shrug.

Celestia smiles at him and gives him a nuzzle.

“Thank you. Not to mention that my sister will be there to help as well. So it shouldn’t be that long of a meeting.”

Oh, great... Anon has a feeling that this meeting is going to last for hours. However, it’s far too late for him to back out now. At the very least it should be interesting for him to see what Celestia has to deal with in her life. So maybe this will help grow their friendship even more?

* * *

“Y-You’re joking, right?” Spike asks Luna with a forced chuckle.

Luna shakes her head sadly. This isn’t something she wants to do but is a necessary evil to ensure that mare will never harm Anon again.

“I’m afraid this is not a joke, Spike. Everything I’ve told you is true. The friends you’ve made, the mare who took care of you most of your life, all of them have done horrible things to someone who had done them no wrong. That is what happened on that day in Ponyville, the elements of harmony were punished for their crimes. This is why you and Twilight were brought back to Canterlot.”

Spike is frozen in place as he looks at Luna. Slowly, like a poison, it starts to sink in. Spike finds himself thinking back to all the times Anon came over to borrow a book. How he’d ask if Twilight was around, leaving if she was or quickly grabbing a book if she wasn’t. Most of the time he’d leave the book he borrowed on the steps of the library or even quickly hand it to Spike if they passed one another on the street.

Spike always found it odd but didn’t think much about it. He knew that Anon changed on the day Twilight took him down into the basement. Before then, while he was a bit weird, he at least talked to Spike every so often and seemed like an alright guy. Spike for the most part just assumed his change of behavior was something human related and didn’t think much past that.

Then that day came when Twilight came home crying. She told Spike that they had to go back to Canterlot. Shining was even there but he didn’t tell Spike anything about why they were leaving, only that he should pack whatever he wanted to bring back with him. This entire time Spike has been kept in the dark by the ponies he thought he knew. They always do this to him, treat him like a baby, as if he can’t understand anything. Spike could feel tears falling from his eyes, he quickly uses his hand to clear them as he looks at Luna with a blank expression.

“Thank you for telling me, Princess.”

“You shouldn’t thank me for telling you such things. I’m certain it’s a tough pill to swallow.”

“At least somepony was willing to tell me.” Spike turns away as he feels more tears welling up in his eyes. “I-uh... I think I need to be alone for a little.”

Luna nods at that. “Very well. See you later, Spike.”

Spike doesn’t respond as he walks away and towards the room Twilight and him are staying in. Luna can do nothing more than watch Spike as he leaves. This is a necessary evil, at least, that’s what she keeps telling herself.

 _“And they call me a monster?”_ A voice chuckles inside of Luna’s mind.

Luna grits her teeth at hearing Nightmare’s remark. Still, she doesn’t lash out at her. She’s right afterall. What Luna did was done purely to hurt Twilight. To take away her last bastion of hope and peace. To truly bring her down to a level she never thought possible. Then and only then, as she crawls amongst the dirt, with nothing but sorrow and anguish lining her heart, can she be given the privilege of asking for Anon’s forgiveness.

“Any mare that dares to harm Anon will be dealt with.” Luna states as she walks off towards the library where Twilight is.

There is no doubt in Luna’s heart that this will come back to bite her one day but she doesn’t care. This is what she believes is right, and no matter the consequence, she will follow her heart.

* * *

Twilight has spent more than a few hours thinking over the task Luna has given her. To say it’s a difficult one is putting it lightly. It almost seems like a joke of some kind. Who cares why Nightmare Moon did what she did? Isn’t the fact that she did something wrong enough for everypony? Twilight feels that pain inside of her flair up... Well, she’s done something wrong too and thought it was for the right reasons. Maybe Nightmare Moon was the same in that regard? Perhaps that’s what Luna is testing her to find out?

Twilight flips open the story of the sisters. Now that she reads it over the story is rather vague about a lot of things. Then again it is a book intended for fillies and colts. Twilight even thinks back to her brief encounter with Nightmare Moon but there was very little she learned about her, other than she wanted to bring forth night eternal. So in that regard it’s similar to the children's book. Twilight peers over at the other books Luna left her, many of them are history books from that era.

Twilight pulls one book from the stack and flips it to a random page. Her eyes widen as she looks at a picture of Luna but this isn’t like any picture she’s ever seen before. She’s adorn in armor, from head to hoof. A long thin blade resting near her hind end. She’s turned away from the camera and is looking off into what appears to be a battlefield. Her face is locked into a stone like expression as fires burn just on the horizon. Twilight reads the text below it as it reads.

_Princess Luna, the general of the lunar knights, keeps a vigilant eye for possible enemy ambush as her allies rest._

Twilight has heard brief talk about Luna’s involvement with various wars. Though she’s never looked too deeply into it. Twilight flips to another page at random and starts to read a hoof written passage of some kind.

_“To see my princess on the battlefield has left me both humbled and terrified, though I do not fear her. Yet, to recount the way she moves in battle can bring even the most stallion of ponies to their hocks. It’s beautiful in a way, how she moves through battle, as if dancing at the Gala. Her movements are obscured by a film of darkness that follows her and foes fall without so much as a chance to cry out in pain. Yet as she fights, she ensures no friend of hers is struck by her blade, every thrust is made with intent and every foe who falls given no chance to strike back. It’s slow and gentle in a way, this is how a life is taken.”_

This is but one passage but Twilight can clearly see dozens if not hundreds more. From a brief scan, many of them recount other battles in which Luna was able to cut down an entire battalion on her own. However, one of the letters stood out from the others. Its hoof writing was much finer than all the others. To Twilight’s surprise, it was Luna’s own letter.

_“Today was an especially hard day. We’ve lost so many of our own and there is nothing I can do about it. Many campaigns litter this land and only one of me to take up the sword. I try the best I can, I’ve forgone sleep to save as many as I can but I am no divine entity. I tire like them and my magic is starting to fade as exhaustion grows. All I have is my blade at this point but I will continue to fight, to save as many as I can.”_

Twilight shivers some in place at reading this. Luna didn’t have her magic as she fought? That means she could’ve been injured the entire time and yet her skill was enough to carry her through countless battles, all for the sake of her own ponies. Is this what it takes to be a leader or is this something else entirely? Twilight goes back to the tale of the two sisters and looks over the artwork. Now that she’s looking closer, it doesn’t look like the ponies are entering their homes to sleep, they actually look terrified.

Twilight reaches out for another book and scans through it. It recounts how many ponies would hide away from the night Luna brought to them, out of fear from the stories that would come back from the frontline. Whenever Luna came briefly to the castle to report to her sister, many of the ponies would avoid her, even going so far as to lock themselves away. They were afraid of Luna, despite her fighting for their sake.

The doors to the library are thrown open. Twilight jumps in shock as she turns around to see Luna standing there. After having read these book, Twilight feels far more uneasy than before. Luna walks up to Twilight and stops before her, casting a brief glance at the book that’s sitting on the table.

“Have you found an answer?” Luna asks.

Twilight looks between the books she’s been reading, then back at Luna. Taking all of this in, Twilight’s still not too sure why Nightmare did what she did but if she had to happen a guess, then there’s only one answer.

“I believe that Nightmare Moon was lonely. The ponies shunned the night and feared the pony that was protecting them. Due to being isolated, Nightmare just wanted ponies to appreciate the night and all that was sacrificed during the war.”

It’s a long shot but deep down it makes sense to Twilight. Luna was protecting ponies and yet they feared her. She didn’t have many that could understand how she felt, other than her soldiers. With no place to feel like home, other than the battlefield, Luna was left isolated. Once it was over, they still feared her and many of her soldiers soon passed away. Left with no one to understand her, Nightmare Moon came into being and in that loneliness anger took form.

Luna doesn’t say a single thing as she stares at Twilight. After a moment passes, she turns away.

“The question cannot be answered, Twilight. No one knows why Nightmare did what she did and I doubt anyone ever will.”

Twilight is confused by this. “So why ask?”

There’s a bit of silence that builds between them as Luna walks towards the door to the library.

“There is one thing you must keep in mind, Twilight. We all have a monster inside of us. It waits for the right opportunity to show itself and you’ll be surprised by how far you’re willing to go when the right conditions are met. Yours comes from the need to understand what you cannot.” Twilight flinches at that. “Mine comes from the need to protect the ones I care for.” Luna stops briefly as she looks over her withers. “Study session is over. I’ve got a meeting I need to attend.”

Nothing more is said as Luna leaves the library. Twilight now sits there in confusion. She doesn’t understand why Luna has done this but she can’t fight a feeling inside of her that something is wrong. Still, despite all that, she does feel as if she learned something today. Luna is really strong and Twilight can never imagine herself in Luna’s shoes.

* * *

It’s becoming clear to Anon that this entire meeting is going to be far more complicated than he originally thought. Celestia made it sound easy enough. Go to a meeting, sit around and eventually leave but as they approach the front of the castle Anon is starting to have his doubts. There are many carriages that sit outside of the front gate, many of which are decorated in various styles that differ from one another. Clearly these were brought from the guests themselves and they definitely look expensive. Not only that but guards litter the castle ground, many of which aren’t even ponies.

Anon recognizes a few guards to be Diamond dogs and griffins but some of the other guards are creatures he’s never seen before. One of them looks like a minotaur, as it stands on two legs and has horns atop its head. There’s also this weird pony like horse. It’s tall like Celestia but also really slim. The only thing Anon can really think is how weird it looks. Even the face is far different than any ponies he’s seen before. As they walk through the front gate towards the main door there are a few other weird creatures but Anon doesn’t get much time to examine them as Celestia stops in place.

He looks over to see that Luna is standing in wait for them. She’s currently decked out in battle armor that’s reminiscent to what she wore during her campaign but this set appears to be decorated for show rather than battle.

“I thought I asked you to dress for the occasion, Luna?” Celestia asks with a sigh.

“I find this armor far more appropriate than what you’re wearing, Sister. We must show them our strength.”

Celestia shakes her head. “Perhaps this was our way long ago but nowadays we show strength behind a veil of friendship. Though we have no time for you to change now. It’ll have to do.”

“Will you be joining us?” Luna asks facing Anon.

This is without a doubt some serious stuff going on. Luna is practically dressed for a battle and the entire air around the sisters is almost heavy enough to choke Anon. It’s a side of them he’s never seen before and hard for him to explain. He’s seen them angry, sad and even happy but this is different. It’s like they have no emotions and are here strictly for business. Anon is having a tough time reading how they feel right now. With the way they’re holding themselves, Anon is second guessing if he should go with them. He has a feeling that he may cause trouble for them.

However, his thoughts are cut short as Celestia pulls him to her side with a wing.

“He will.” She answers.

Luna looks between Anon and her sister.

“Very well.” She turns away and walks off. “Come, they’ve waited long enough.”

Celestia doesn’t say anything as she pulls Anon with her. He’s got a bad feeling about this but it’s too late for him to back out now.

* * *

Twilight is walking down the hall still thinking over what Luna and her talked about during her study session. What did she mean by a monster inside of us? Twilight lets out a sigh as she decides to table this line of thought for later, the fact of the matter is that there’s a lot of activity going on at the castle right now. Twilight notices there are a lot more guards walking the halls, many of them on high alert. If Twilight had to guess then there’s probably a diplomatic meeting going on.

Twilight is quite familiar with these meetings. She’s never been to one but they happened a lot when she was here at the castle studying under Celestia as a filly. There were some days when they would have to move her study sessions to another day due to how long the meetings can usually last. In many ways Twilight feels like she’s reliving those days right now. She’s walking these halls, studying with the princess and even returning to her room at the castle by the end of the day.

Twilight is now standing before the door to her room. She lets out a sigh of relief to be back, not to mention that Spike is probably waiting for her as well. Twilight opens the door wide and notices Spike is lying in the center of the room on the floor.

“Spike?”

It’s unusual for Spike to fall asleep on the floor. Well, unless he’s exhausted but as far as Twilight knows he shouldn’t be that tired. He doesn’t respond to her calling out to him either. Concerned with his behavior, Twilight walks over to him to make sure he’s alright. However, before she can rest a hoof on him, Spike moves away from her touch.

“Spike? Is everything alright?”

He’s clearly awake, so why is he acting like this? There’s a bit of silence that builds between them. Twilight has no idea what’s going on but she waits for him to say anything to her. This entire time she can’t help but feel a pit slowly growing in her stomach.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He asks in a hollow tone.

The fur on Twilight's body stands on edge. She feels her heart start to pound as his words fill her thoughts. He can’t possibly mean what she thinks he means, right?

“T-Tell you about what?”

Spike slowly sits up from his lying position and turns around to face Twilight. The look he gives her confirms what she fears. She can see it so clearly on his face. Fear, disgust, anger and confusion. How could he have found out about what happened in Ponyville? She then remembers Luna taking Spike with her as she left... She told him.

“Are you just going to keep lying to me?!” He shouts as tears start to well in his eyes. “You all think I’m a baby, right?! That’s why nopony has told me anything!”

“S-Spike, please, just calm down.”

“Don't tell me to calm down!” He shouts as his emotions continue to flip. “What Luna told me... I couldn't even believe it!” That look of disgust comes back again. “How could you? How could any of you do that to Anon? I don’t even know him that well but nopony should go through that.”

What can she do right now? What could she possibly say to make this right?

“I swear, if you just give me time then I can explain.” Twilight says trying to reach out to him.

“Don’t touch me!” He shouts striking her hoof away.

It’s all falling apart, just as she predicted. She can feel her own eyes now starting to well up as the pain inside of her grows. However, something inside of her happens. Without any warning, all of the pain and sorrow she felt suddenly vanished. Like a lightswitch, it was there one moment and gone the next. No... This isn’t what she wants. She doesn’t want to ignore how she feels right now! She needs Spike to understand that she regrets everything she’s done!

“Spike... I’m sorry.” She says in a dead tone.

Spike’s anger fades as his eyes well up. “You don’t mean that.”

Twilight reaches her hoof out to him once more but he bolts past her and runs off. Despite what she looks like on the outside, Twilight is crying on the inside. Her heart hurts so much and yet she can’t shed a single tear. She feels nothing and at the same time feels everything. Yet these things don’t matter to her right now, all that matters is the fact that everyone she knows has left her. That single thought sinks in. The pain becomes overwhelming and still not a single tear is shed. In fact, all she can do is stand in place.

Even if she wanted to chase after Spike, she can’t find the will to move a single inch.

* * *

Celestia, Luna and Anon all sit at a large round table with many other creatures. As soon as they entered the room the sisters took their seats and Anon took the only empty seat that was available, which was to the left of Celestia. The first thing Anon took notice of was that all of the creatures were looking directly at him. It seems that he’s the center of attention and he’s not surprised. Taking in the room, a large female Diamond dog sits beside him.

She looks far different than the diamond dogs he’s had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting. Having a more groomed look, a longer snout and narrow head, making her look more like a wolf than the weird flat faced diamond dogs he’s seen before. Add the fact that she’s muscular and as tall as him makes her have an almost intimidating presence about her.

Looking at the others. There are a few other species here as well. What appears to be a minotaur, griffin, deer and even a dragon. Though this dragon is far smaller than the ones Anon has read about but much larger than Spike. Standing at least four feet if he had to guess. Before Anon could look further into the others, he hears someone speak beside him.

“Who might you be?” The diamond dog asks.

Her voice is very gruff but she asked in an almost gentle tone.

“Anon.” He speaks loud enough for everyone to hear. “And you?”

“Onyx.” She answers. “Where do you come from?”

Anon can see in the corner of his eye Luna holding back Celestia from speaking. Something isn’t right here. As he once again takes a look around the room, things start to look complicated. A few of the creatures here are looking at him as if he were a prize of sorts. Hmm... He gets the feeling he needs to tread cautiously.

“The Everfree forest.”

Most of the creatures in the room flinch a bit at hearing that.

“That’s interesting.” The griffin speaks up. “I’ve not heard reports of a new species in the Everfree. In fact,” He looks over at Celestia. “Reports say that you’ve been living in Equestria for quite some time.”

So that’s how it is. Whether Anon likes it or not, it appears he just became a political chess piece for them to play against Celestia. He has no real idea how politics work but he can only assume that if they see value in his existence then they’ll clearly use him to profit in some way. Is this what a game of thrones is all about? Well, that matters little right now. The fact of the matter is, Anon has no intention of being used. Politics is about lying, right? Well, he can do that easily.

“Yes, a sad story that is.” Anon grabs everyone's attention. “It’s unfortunate of me to inform you all that I’m the last of my kind. We lived deep within the Everfree, far deeper than any creature dared to explore. One day, a monster we’ve never seen before invaded our camp. Needless to say, I was the only survivor.”

Anon can see all the creatures examining him. Each of them have no reason to deny what he’s saying and yet he can see that a few of them want to refute his words. Anon gives them no chance to speak as he continues his story. After all, a good story blends lies and truths together.

“I’m sure you’ve all heard my story past that point. I was subject to some horrible things in Ponyville but nothing compared to the things I’ve seen in the Everfree. Though not all was bad, I was met with some relief when Celestia herself came to chat with me one day. I was still new to Equestria and she was kind enough to show me the things I’ve never seen before but I digress. She was kind enough to take me in due to the harsh treatment I had endured.” Anon looks up at the others. “I’m sure you all would’ve done the same?”

A few of them turn away from his gaze and many show disinterest about what is happening right now. Seeing no reason so stop now, Anon continues his story.

“I’ve been staying at the castle for the time being. Equestria is a large place and there’s still much to learn. Celestia invited me to this meeting to introduce myself to you all. To ensure that no secrets were kept from you all.”

Anon can see that a few of them look rather upset to be hearing this story but it’s about as much as he expected, seeing as they probably wanted to use him for something.

“Thank you for taking the time to tell us your story. It’s much appreciated.” A big looking buck speaks out. “I’m Antler.”

Every creature also gives Anon their name as things settle down. Anon looks over at Celestia and Luna as they look at him with a bit of surprise but make sure to hide it well from the others.

“Sorry to have taken up so much of your time. I believe we can now start the meeting?”

Celestia gives him a nod as she turns to address the others.

“Now that introductions are over. Let’s begin.”


	28. For what it's worth P2

The meeting is finally over. Anon, Celestia and Luna stand outside of the meeting room beside one another. Every creature gives both sisters a nod and bow before moving on to their carriages, so that they may return to their countries. While standing by Celestia, Anon is surprised when a few of the leaders also stop to give him a bow before leaving. He honestly thought most of them forgot he even existed, seeing as he didn’t speak once the meeting started. Anon can only assume they’re doing this out of respect, which is fine by him.

The meeting though, that was as complicated and boring as he thought it would be. However, there were some interesting points to take note of, such as how Celestia and Luna handled the topics at hand. Luna was always firm and adamant when making her point, even forgoing pleasantries and simply laying out how she saw the situation. Celestia on the other hand played to a different tune. She would listen carefully, saying almost nothing during the entire conversation, taking information that she found useful and playing it against others as a way to maintain order.

Afterall, how could you argue with yourself? So after many hours, Celestia in the end was right. The borders were maintained by the end of the meeting. The only real changes made were those involving trading routes. Leaders exchanging money to allow their people to freely pass between borders with no trouble. Even some paying extra to ensure common routes were cleared of obstructions or even dangers, such as wildlife and bandits.

Anon is brought from thought as a face enters his vision. It’s the female Diamond dog from before. Onyx. She gives him a toothy grin and offers her paw for him to shake. He does so without hesitation but is surprised when she leans forward and whispers something into his ear.

“Good job protecting the princesses but I suggest you leave these meetings to the experts.”

He knew that it was rather obvious but having her confirm it makes it all the more real. They knew he was lying but he was right in his assumption that they couldn’t rightfully call him out on his story, so they kept silent. Onyx didn’t appear to stand on any side as he told his story and what she’s telling him now sounds like honest advice.

“A pleasure meeting you, Onyx.” Anon says pulling away from her.

That grin is still on her face. “You too.”

With that said, Onyx walks towards the front of the castle. Once everyone is out of sight, Anon takes a moment to let out a sigh of exhaustion as his shoulders slump. Keeping up that front for so long was actually challenging in a way. It’s been awhile since he’s had to keep his mask on for so long. When he looks up he notices Celestia is intentionally facing away from him, her demeanor a cause for concern.

“Is everything alright?” Anon asks.

Celestia shakes her head some. “I should’ve known they would try to use you.” She stomps a hoof in anger. “I knew that and still I put you into that situation.”

Anon understands where she’s getting at. Sure the meeting was rather intense at the start but Anon didn’t really think of it as that big of a deal. At least not for her to worry so much over it.

“I’m fine, Tia. Nothing happened, right?”

“He is right, Sister. It all played out in the end.” Luna tries to comfort her sister as well.

“That’s not the point!” She slams her hoof onto the ground again. “You two don’t get it. Most of those creatures are no friend of Equestria. They are always looking for leverage. If they tried to take Anon away, because they thought he was of value...” Celestia clenches her teeth as she can’t even finish that thought.

Anon can’t deny that Celestia is right in that regard. If they thought Anon was just some weird animal, they could’ve taken him for experiments. However, experimenting on sapient creatures is highly frowned upon and that’s why they held their tongue when he told his story. Not to mention if he was just an animal and Celestia didn’t want to give him to them, then they could’ve demanded anything, even start a war.

Still, Anon thinks Celestia shouldn’t be worried about this. Anon walks up to her and pulls her into an embrace. He feels her jumps slightly at his touch but soon settles into his arms.

“You heard that griffin.” Anon says. “They knew I was here, so chances are that they would’ve asked you about me regardless if I was there or not. Not that I doubt you’d come up with an excuse but I’m sure hearing one from me was a bit more effective. At the very least, they couldn’t outright deny what I was telling them.”

Celestia’s heart hurts. She knows that Anon is right but that doesn’t help calm the pain she feels. Her love for him is not only clouding some of her thoughts but also putting him into unnecessary situations. Even her sister didn’t question Anon coming to the meeting, even though there was a clear danger of him being there. She must start thinking critically about whatever she does, so that Anon will never be put into harm's way.

“I just...” Celestia tries to find the right words to say. “You already have a lot on your plate. I should be more considerate in what may add to it.”

Anon shakes his head some. That’s just like Celestia, worrying about how he feels instead of herself. Celestia is the one that should be worrying about less and Anon has done little to help her in that department. If anything, his interactions with Twilight puts untold amounts of stress on Celestia. It should be Anon that’s worried about what’s on Celestia’s plate. She’s a leader of a country and also deals with a lot in her daily life. It’s not like he hasn’t thought about what bothers her, it’s just, there’s been a lot going on this past week.

“I’m fine, Tia.” Anon speaks gently as he strokes her mane a bit. “It was an interesting meeting. Sure, the start could’ve been better but all that stuff is over now. Luna is right, it worked out in the end.”

Luna nods at Anon. “What he says is true, Sister. I’m sure the story will keep them from further questioning Anon’s existence. At least for the time being. Though I doubt any amount of investigating would prove fruitful.”

Anon lets go of Celestia and can see that she’s calmed a bit. Though he can see that she’s still very concerned about him.

“If you’re so bothered by it, then I’ll take a few minutes to myself. Walk around the castle to clear my head.” Anon looks out a nearby window to see it’s already dark. “We’ll meet back at your room?”

That seems to help a bit with Celestia’s mood as she gives him a nod.

“Yes, that sounds like a plan.”

“Do not take long.” Luna adds.

“That’s fine by me.” Anon says, giving them a wave as he walks off down the hall in no particular direction.

* * *

It’s so quiet now. Twilight is still standing in her room, exactly where she was when Spike left. It’s been a few hours now and he’s not come back. The only thing she can hear now is the sound of her own breath. She has no idea if she’s been crying or not, as time has started to slip away from her. Her eyes hurt as if she has been crying and yet there are no watermarks on the floor. She doesn’t even know if she feels sad anymore.

Right now at least, she’s stuck inside of a maze. One of her own creation. The walls are made of pure stone, not a single one looks any different than the one it's connected to. She’s lost inside of her own mind and she’s exhausted. As if she’s been searching for the exit this entire time and only managed to get herself lost deeper within this maze. She doesn’t know what to do anymore. Everything she cares for is gone. So what does she have now?

Twilight thinks back to when things were perfect. Back when she lived in Ponyville, before the punishment, even before Anon was there. Where did it all go wrong? She thinks back to her fight with Discord, how Anon appeared and how they feared that he was perhaps apart of Discord's plan. In many ways that fear never did get better, at least not for Twilight. In the back of her mind it was always there. Wondering, questioning his appearance.

Even after he survived the blast from the Elements, she was still worried that it was only a fluke. Afterall, that blast did have an affect on him, it hurt him, which had to mean something. If anypony else was hit by the blast, it wouldn’t have caused any reaction, yet it did for Anon. She buried these thoughts back then and yet overtime they manifested into something far more sinister. Something she couldn’t control.

She remembers the talks they had. The world he spoke of, everything about it sounded chaotic. If Anon told her that his world was created by Discord, she’d believe him, that’s how crazy the place sounded. Perhaps it was that fear that drove her to experiment on him? She doesn’t know but what she did haunts her now. She truly thought she was doing it for the sake of Equestria but in reality it was because of her own paranoia.

The walls seem to loom over her now as she covers her head in sorrow.

“P-Please... Someone save me.” Twilight whispers to herself as she’s left trapped in her own mind.

* * *

So here Anon is now, walking down the hall to clear his thoughts. Despite every wall looking the same, he knows where he is, though where he’s going is still unknown to him. His mind is elsewhere, thinking over the meeting that happened. That meeting put Anon in contact with a lot of creatures he never knew existed and some that were far different than the ones he’s met. Onyx comes to mind for him as she looks nothing like the Diamond dogs he’s met.

It makes him wonder if their race is anything like the breeds from his world? Perhaps there are different breeds of diamond dog? If they do eat meat, which Anon has a strong feeling they do if Onyx’s teeth were any indication, then perhaps some breeds hunt, others dig, so on and so forth. That would make as much sense as he can get from this world, so he’ll take it. The fact is, Anon doesn’t even want to question some of the other creatures he saw.

The minotaur being the biggest gripe he has. At least in his worlds legend, a minotaur was the mixing of a human and bovine. So how could a creature like that exist here without any humans to begin with? A fruitless endeavor, one of which he will probably never find an answer to. At least that minotaur didn’t think Anon was some kind of weird god or _forerunner_ if you will. So for the most part everything worked out in the end.

Hmmm... Maybe the clearing his head thing was actually a good idea? He feels a bit better getting all that stuff out into the open. Though that feeling is soon gone as he feels something bump into him from a low angle, so low that he almost trips over whatever he walked into. Anon catches himself and looks down to see Spike of all things. He’s currently stopped dead in his tracks as his head rests against Anon’s leg.

“Spike?” What the hell is he doing out here so late at night?

Anon can only stand there questioning as Spike slowly looks up at him. What he sees actually disturbs him a bit. Spike is looking at him with one of the most deadest looks he’s ever seen. A thousand yard stare that even looks past Anon. Anon doesn’t know much about Spike but he does know that he’s never this depressed about anything. So something must’ve happened. Anon kneels down to face Spike.

“You alright?”

“No, I’m not.” Spike responds in a dead tone. “Luna told me everything. How could everyone do that? I thought they were good ponies but no one told me anything.”

Luna told him what happened in Ponyville? Dammit, Luna... Anon knows exactly why she did it. In many ways, it’s a thought he’s shared with her from time to time but one he never acted on. The reason he never did something like this is because Spike wasn’t involved in what happened. In many ways, he’s like Pinkie. A bystander caught in the crossfire. However, Pinkie isn’t like Spike. She’s a grown mare but Spike is still a kid.

He knows why she did it and yet that doesn’t make this right. It honestly has him a bit pissed off.

“Spike, listen to me closely.” Anon shakes Spike some to grab his attention. “What happened is none of your concern.”

“You’re just like them, you think I’m a baby too!” Spike tries to push Anon away but Anon holds him in place.

Anon needs to get control of this situation. He can’t help Spike if he’s acting like this. If he’s so concerned with being treated like a child then perhaps that’s an angle he can work from.

“Well, Spike, you’re acting like a baby right now. So how about you calm down and act like an adult?”

What Anon says seems to resonate with Spike. It takes a moment but Spike calms down enough for Anon to let him go. There’s a lot that needs to be said but Anon feels that it’ll be best to let Spike take the wheel here. So, Anon gets up, walks over to a wall and takes a seat. He has no idea how long this will take but he owes it to the little guy to lend him an ear.

“So, what’s the problem?”

“Everything.” Spike answers.

“Gotta give me a bit more than that.”

Spike twiddles his claws a bit before looking up at Anon.

“Is it true, what Luna told me?”

Anon lets out a long sigh. “Yeah, Spike. It’s true.”

Hearing Anon confirm this causes Spike to wince in pain. So it’s true. Not that Spike thought Luna was lying but hearing it come straight from Anon makes it real for him. Anon hates this, seeing Spike hurt over what happened is painful in a way. He doesn’t want to see him suffering over something he had no control over. All Anon can do is try and comfort him the best he can.

“Why didn’t anypony tell me?”

Anon isn’t sure how to answer that question. He takes a few moments to gather his thoughts. Well, there’s only one reason he could think of.

“Spike, there’s a saying on my world. Ignorance is bliss. Do you know what it means?” Spike shakes his head confused. “It means that you can be happy if you choose to not know the truth.”

“W-Why would anypony do that?”

“Because the truth hurts. Once you know the truth, there’s no going back. Some have tried to ignore it and maybe it worked for a little while but eventually it comes back.”

“So you’re saying that I’ll never be happy?”

“No, Spike. The truth hurts but it also helps you learn. You become a better person and find other ways to make yourself happy.” Anon has no idea if what he’s saying is working but he hopes it is. “Whether you like it or not, Spike. You’re a kid. You should be blissfully ignorant of everything that’s happening. Enjoying whatever life throws at you. You’ll have more than enough time to be an adult later, so don’t waste your youth on things that don’t concern you.”

Spike doesn’t know what to think right now. The way Anon is speaking to him is in a way he’s never heard from anypony before. It’s almost shocking for Spike to be talked to so directly and with honesty. He actually feels as if Anon is treating him like he’s an adult.

“Why are you telling me all this? Why treat me like an adult?” Spike asks.

Anon lets out a sigh. “This issue you’ve been put in... It never should’ve happened to begin with. I’m sorry for that, Spike. That’s why I’m not treating you like a child, because you’ve been hurt like an adult.”

Anon can only sit there and look at Spike as his mouth moves up and down, lost on what he could possibly say in return. Yet, as it all sinks in, Spike covers his face as he starts to cry to himself. Anon grits his teeth in anger, not at Spike but the fact that he got dragged into this. He gets up and walks over to Spike, kneels down and hugs him. Spike holds onto Anon as he continues to cry in such a way that Anon can actually feel his pain, the crying of a child.

Anon doesn’t know how long he was there holding Spike but eventually he cried himself to sleep in his arms. What is he going to do now? Well, there’s only one thing he can do. Anon picks up Spike and starts walking towards Twilight’s room.

* * *

Twilight hears someone enter into her room. She has no idea who it could be, as she doesn’t recognise the walking pattern that approached the door. Still, she can’t find the strength to move as she remains motionless. The sound stopped as soon as the door opened and the moonlight from the hall cast onto Twilight. She can’t even see a shadow but she can hear whoever is there breathing. After what feels like forever, she hears whoever is there enter into the room.

A shadow walks past her and towards her bed. The figure is obscured in darkness but she knows who it is. It’s Anon. There’s only one creature that walks on two legs and stands as tall as he does. What reason does he have to be here and also go to her bed? Twilight can only watch as he sets something down onto her bed and turns away to face her but she can’t see his face due to the lack of lighting. Her eyes drift over to what he placed down and she notices Spike’s sleeping form. It seems that at some point Spike ran into Anon and probably passed out.

She would thank him if it weren’t for the fact that she’s stuck in place. Not only that but she doesn’t really feel anything right now, so she’s not even sure if she’s grateful for what he’s done. Anon doesn’t say anything as he walks past her and out of sight. Twilight blinks slowly from the shock of light to her eyes but finds the room is now illuminated. He must’ve turned on a light for some reason. She’d question why but she finds no interest in that.

He hasn’t returned to someplace she can see him, instead she hears him continue to walk towards the door as the sound of it shutting comes to her ears. He’s gone and Twilight for some reason feels a crushing sense of loneliness now. S-She doesn’t want to be alone! Before her thoughts spiral out of control she takes notice of quick footsteps coming from behind her. With a few strides Anon is standing directly in front of her, he even kneels down so they’re eye to eye.

“You know, feeling things can be scary but feeling nothing is almost like being stuck in a nightmare. It disconnects you from the world you know and everything becomes gray.” Anon says in a neutral tone.

Twilight felt something when Anon spoke. She’s still trapped in the maze but for a brief moment she felt as if she knew the way out. Anon can only sit there and look into Twilight’s eyes. They’re rather dead looking but there’s a glimmer of some kind still there. Every fiber of his being wants him to leave this room, to let her suffer but he can’t do that. If he does, this will not only hurt Luna but Celestia too. He hates this but he has to help her.

“What you feel gives things meaning. Without it, nothing has meaning. That’s why you think you’re alone.” Anon continues to draw Twilight out. “You couldn’t be further from the truth. You have your family and friends. They mean something to you, even if you don’t feel it right now. They still acknowledge you after what happened in Ponyville and that should mean a lot.” Anon scoffs. “Even that Cadance pony cares about you.”

The looming walls that hung over Twilight are no longer as high as she once thought. Not only that but she’s starting to notice cracks on the walls. She’s not alone?

“You still have ponies that believe in you whole heartedly. Celestia blames herself for what happened in Ponyville, not you. She feels as if she failed you as your teacher. That’s why you’re here and why she’s trying so hard to teach you.”

_I-Is that true?_

It’s subtle but Twilight can feel her eyes starting to water as a bit of pain seeps into her heart. Why is Anon doing this? Why is he helping her?

Anon lets out a sigh. “Given enough time, ponies will forget what happened and everything will return back to normal.”

Anon can clearly see her eyes start to waver as they glisten a bit. A small collection of tears building as she looks directly at him. He thinks it’s time he said his peace, not only for his sake but Twilight’s as well. It’s time for her to stop living this lie of forgiveness she’s been obsessing over.

“Twilight. I think you know as well as I that you will never gain my forgiveness.” Twilight clenches her eyes shut as tears now fall down her cheek. “What you did to me can’t be forgiven. I still have nightmares about what happened.” Anon clenches his fists some in anger. “I even have a hard time letting Celestia hold me without my skin crawling.” He takes in a large sigh and lets it out. “To be honest, I doubt I’ll ever get over what you did to me. It’s something I’ll relive until the day I die. Something I’m sure we’ll be taking to our graves.”

N-no... She doesn’t want to remember it but she knows what he’s talking about. A few tests she buried in the back of her mind. The walls that trap her mind have now become corrosive, the tops lined with metal spikes.

“I hate you. I hate you so deeply that it actually hurts.”

She knows that! She hates herself! Just looking in the mirror is enough to make her sick... She’s disgusting and irredeemable. Anon stops for a moment to take in what’s happening to Twilight. She’s trembling uncontrollably as tears flow freely down her cheek. The floor below her having collected a small puddle. Well, time to get this over with.

“Thank you, Twilight.” Anon says honestly.

Twilight’s eyes open wide as she flinches some. W-What did he just say? The walls that surrounded her crumble to the floor, the entire maze is gone.

“W-What?” Twilight feels herself ask.

“I said thank you.” Anon gives her a small smile. “The fact is, Twilight. You’re the reason I even have the friends I have. If everything in Ponyville didn’t happen, then I never would’ve locked myself away, Celestia never would’ve come to visit and I never would’ve made all the friends I have today.” He lets out a sigh. “I’m happy with the friends I have now and I wouldn’t change anything if it meant that they would go away.”

“E-Even if it meant going through what happened again?” Twilight asks still shocked.

“Of course.”

Anon feels remarkably relaxed right now. It’s odd in a way. It’s like he’s talking to any other pony in this moment.

“How...” Twilight turns away from him. “How could you bear to suffer something like that again?”

It’s sudden and enough to make Twilight whip her head back towards Anon. For Twilight, time has stopped. She can’t look away from Anon as he holds something between his fingers. It’s the ring, the magic dampening ring that was on her horn.

“Because I’ve found two lonely ponies that need a friend like me.” Anon points to the ring in his hand. “Mind if I kept this?”

It takes all of Twilight’s willpower to respond. “I-I don’t mind.”

Anon puts the ring into his pocket as he starts to walk towards the exit to Twilight’s room.

“Why,” Anon stops before exiting. “Why after all this time?” She asks.

Anon chuckles a bit. “Why indeed.”

Anon doesn’t say anything else as he leaves. He better hurry back to the sisters before they come looking for him. Twilight is left in her room unsure how to process what just happened. Her heart is numb but no longer empty. She turns back to look at Spike as he sleeps soundly. She walks over and watches him as he sleeps. She doesn’t understand Anon, not even in the slightest but this is what she does know.

She will try her hardest to become a better pony. Once she does, she will not ask for his forgiveness but instead his friendship. Twilight climbs into bed and holds onto Spike. First, she has to have a long talk with Spike in the morning. Then the rest will come in time.


	29. All that is gold

The day has finally arrived as Pinkie and Maud approach the train station. On their way, they passed various colorful storefronts and Pinkie mentioned how they should go shopping the next time Maud comes to visit. Maud doesn’t say much, instead giving a nod here and there in reply. While Pinkie is sad to see Maud go, she is also happy that they’ve spent so much time having fun together. Still, there was so much more she wanted to show her sister before she left.

After their visit to the crystal cavern, Pinkie bought Maud a necklace from the souvenir shop that actually used crystals from the cave. She could see her sister's eyes sparkle when she gave her the gift as a going away present. Maud tended to dress rather plainly and Pinkie wanted her to have something that really stood out. There was no doubt in Pinkie’s mind that the necklace did indeed add a certain _je ne sais quoi_ which highlights the natural beauty her sister usually seems too disinterested to show.

“That necklace really looks nice on you,” Pinkie compliments.

“Thank you.”

“Did you enjoy yourself?”

“I did.”

“What’d you think of Anon?” Pinkie presses, suddenly changing tack. “Did you like him?”

Maud can tell that Pinkie is trying her best to keep this casual. It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve had an emotional parting and it certainly won’t be the last. Pinkie can get a bit emotional at times but Maud knows it comes from a good place in her heart.

“He’s nice. It’s good to know someone is watching over my little sister.”

Pinkie can feel her eyes starting to water. “Don’t say stuff like that, Maud, or I’ll start crying again.”

“Sorry. I just worry about you.”

“I know.” Pinkie clears her eyes. “Still, you’re going off to a new school and all that. _I’m_ the one who should be worried!”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right...”

The two of them finally make it to the station, the train already waiting at the platform. Pinkie hoped they’d have a bit more time to talk to one another, as these days it’s rare for them to spend much time together, but Maud has always had a knack for planning trips. She’s not surprised to find the train has already arrived.

“My ride's here,” Maud says, turning to face her sister. “Take care, Pinkie.”

Pinkie can feel tears building up in her eyes, so she moves in close and gives her sister a hug to stifle them. Maud returns the hug easily as she feels Pinkie tremble a bit in her hooves.

“We’ll see each other again soon, right?”

Maud pats her sister on the back a bit before pulling away and giving her a small smile. “Of course.”

That’s all she says before she turns to board her train. Pinkie didn’t want to cry on this day, but she can already feel the dam breaking, tears rolling down her cheeks as the train starts to take off from the station. Pinkie notices her sister at a window seat and gives her a wave, one Maud returns as the train continues to pick up pace. It doesn’t take long for the train to leave Pinkie’s sight, but she’s still waving even as it hits the horizon.

After a few minutes she releases a forlorn sigh. She glances over at her own saddlebag that is packed and ready for her to return to Ponyville. If she’s going to regret one thing, it’s not getting to say goodbye to Anon properly. Sure they spoke during the party, but she would have spoken with him privately had he not appeared so busy.

A quiet voice snaps her out of her stupor. “Pinkie?”

To her surprise, Pinkie turns around to find Fluttershy. She quickly flips her somber mood and tries to act a bit more cheerful as she cleans her face a bit.

“Hey, Fluttershy!” Pinkie walks up to Fluttershy with a smile. “You heading back today?”

She nods. “I have all my things packed. You?”

“Yup! All ready to head home. I bet Gummy is worried sick about me.”

“I know how you feel. I’m sure all the animals will be happy to see me back.”

Pinkie nods. “I’m sure they will. Angel has been doing a great job watching them. I think you’ll be surprised by how much has changed.”

Fluttershy cocks her head at that. “Really?”

“Yeah! That trainer Celestia sent over was so sweet, but super firm. I was there just to make sure everything was alright, but she was quick to get all those animals into shape. ”

Fluttershy sighs in relief. “It’s good to hear that. I was worried that something would happen.”

“Don’t be! I'm sure you’ll love the change.”

Fluttershy smiles at that. “So how have things been in Ponyville? We didn’t have much time to talk at Anon’s party.”

Pinkie feels her smile slip a bit. “Well, I’ll be honest, Fluttershy... I don’t really know. I’ve kinda been keeping my distance for the most part.”

“Is there something wrong?”

“I don’t know... I still feel kinda weird about everything that happened, you know?”

Fluttershy nods understandingly. “Yeah, I have that feeling too. Have you talked to any of our friends?”

“I’ve talked to AJ some, but Rarity is pretty much locked in her house. As for Rainbow... We don’t know where she is.”

“Oh my... I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. It’ll take time before things get back to normal.”

Pinkie shakes away the mood. This isn’t a time to be a mopey dopey over all this stuff! They should be celebrating the positives!

“What did you think about Anon’s party?”

Though puzzled by the sudden change of topic, Fluttershy accepts Pinkie’s wish to speak of something more lighthearted. “It was very nice. I met so many friendly ponies.”

Pinkie then finds herself wondering something. “Fluttershy... Did Anon invite you to the party?”

Fluttershy nods. “Yes, actually. It’s a bit of an odd story.”

Pinkie wants to hear about this; she knows full well that Anon can be rather firm with who he lets into his life, but knowing that he’s trying to open up to ponies is always wonderful to hear.

“We have time. The train just left so we have a few hours before the next one comes.”

Wow, Fluttershy arrived sooner than she’d thought. It’s a good thing that Pinkie is here to chat with. For a moment, it feels as if things are back to normal.

“Well, alright. So, I was talking to Blueblood in the garden when Anon showed up...”

* * *

Gilda is walking down the streets of Canterlot. Well, wandering would be more accurate. She’d been thinking about a lot of things ever since she spoke with Anon: what happened to her in Ponyville, Rainbow Dash, and everything else in between. She even finds her thoughts returning to the fair when she was embraced by him. She can feel herself blush a bit. It’s still embarrassing for her to remember, but was admittedly rather pleasant. He’s very nice in an odd way, something Gilda isn’t used to.

Ponies avoid her for the most part. Even as she walks down this street, all of the ponies give her a wide berth. There’s a reason why many griffins avoid Equestria: despite all their talk of friendship, many ponies aren’t willing to befriend anyone outside of their own species. At one time, Gilda thought things were different with Rainbow, but that certainly wasn’t the same after all the time that passed. It still pained her to remember that day in Ponyville.

She admits to having been a jerk, but she felt threatened in a way: they were supposed to hang out alone that day, and yet, time after time, one of those rotten ponies would show up to try and steal her away... At least that’s what Gilda believed at the time. So she lashed out; she didn’t care about the party and all the gifts. She just cared about Rainbow and how their friendship wasn't what it used to be.

There was a time when Rainbow protected Gilda, but all it took was one day for Gilda to become the bad guy. All their years together, gone and long forgotten. Hearing Anon tell that story was beyond infuriating. Why didn’t he just talk to someone about it? Get help? Was he too proud? Too stupid? ...Too afraid? She clicks her beak in frustration... She knows why. Griffins do it all the time.

He’s loyal to a fault. Willing to suffer in silence for the sake of others. It pisses her off! If _she_ were there, then she wou-

Gilda stops in the center of the street. What was that thought just now? Would she protect him? Another click. This is all pointless to think about. The story he told her―or the punishment rather―is what interested her the most. She can’t even begin to describe how sweet it was for her to hear about Rainbow’s comeuppance. Ever since she was a filly she talked about joining the Wonderbolts; to have that taken from her was music to Gilda’s ears.

“You look like you’re lost in your own little world,” a familiar voice calls out.

Gilda jerks slightly, turning to discover it was that orange pony from before. What was her name again? Spit something?

“Oh, uh... Hey... you?” Gilda walks off without another word.

“Come on now, no need to give me the brush-off,” Spitfire says as she catches up to Gilda. “Name’s Spitfire, by the way. We talked a few days ago on the roof, and at the party.”

Oh yeah, that was her name. Well, that was one mystery solved.

“I didn’t hurt your friend, in case you’re only here to ask that,” Gilda remarks.

“I know that, seeing as you haven’t been turned into a pile of dust. I’m glad you took my advice; were you satisfied with what you’ve learned?”

“I guess.”

Gilda doesn’t like how casual this conversation is. This pony is starting to weird her out. Then again, at least she isn’t talking to that bat pony protecting Anon. Gilda still gets a shiver down her spine whenever she thinks about her.

“Wanna get a drink? I’m sure there’s a lot of stuff we can talk about.”

Gilda will admit she could use a drink to get her mind off of everything that’s been happening, but one problem does come to mind.

“Got no bits.”

“Drinks are on me if you’re willing to spare a few minutes for a small chat.”

Well, if Gilda likes one thing, it’s free drinks. “Sure, I guess I can waste some time.”

* * *

As she closes the store for the day, Lyra moves in a sluggish, almost machine-like manner. She makes sure that everything is clean and orderly before walking into the back kitchen. All of the cooks have long since left for home; the entire place is spotless. Lyra feels a twinge in her heart as her mind drifts to Anon. They’re trained this well because of what he taught them. It’s amazing how much more smoothly things run since they hired these ponies to help.

She remembers a time when the three of them struggled to keep up with the constant demand for their candy. There were times when the three of them went without sleep to ensure that they could keep the quota. Yet despite all of the trouble, those are the moments Lyra misses the most. The three of them moved as one and rarely said anything, even as they handed one another ingredients or utensils. That’s when she felt the closest to Anon and Bonbon.

Now, now things are different. Products are easily and swiftly made at the outstanding quality Anon strives for. No customer has to wait long before a fresh batch is ready for them. The pace has picked up so much that Lyra even noticed new ponies stop by to see what they offered. It’s what they’ve always talked about; it’s what they’ve worked so hard for and yet Anon is not here to see the fruits of their labor.

All because of her.

Lyra walks over to the second set of doors leading to their normal kitchen. Once she enters she finds Bonbon at the table poring over paperwork. After the friction with Anon, everything in their relationship fell into disarray. Bonbon spent a lot of time crying back here, rarely going to the kitchen or storefront unless she had to. Even now she looked tired, crunching numbers and taking note of what supplies they have.

“Everything is okay,” Lyra says to Bonbon.

She doesn’t respond, curtly nodding her head. Lyra worries that they’re beginning to grow distant. It hasn’t even been two days and yet their world is crumbling around them. She wishes she could do something to take everything back but even now she can feel a yearning to see Anon, to be close to him, to be held by him... She grits her teeth. She doesn’t know why but she just can’t stop thinking about him.

“I... I’m going to bed,” is all Lyra says as she exits the room.

Bonbon is left by herself as she places a hoof to her temple and sets her paperwork down. Her eyes start to water, but she rubs them a bit to stop herself from crying. Things are going great and yet she’s never felt as lonely as she does now. Anon was her best friend, her only friend... Now he’s gone. Even as things happened in the kitchen, she started to notice things weren’t the same: his reprimanding of Butterhooves; the sounds of his unique footfalls as he paced about the store, helping wherever he could; his questions about how well they were doing.

She never noticed how she got used to these small things. Now that he’s gone, her life seems almost unbearably empty without them. She agonizes over Anon; she can’t stop thinking about him. Maybe in many ways she does love him, but not like Lyra... She sees him as family. She’s never had a family, and to have someone as close to her as Anon leave is excruciating. Still, she understands why he left, and distressingly, she has yet to find a solution for their problem.

Talking to Lyra won’t work and Bonbon doesn’t want to be thrust into another predicament like they had at the party. She doesn’t want to lose Anon _or_ Lyra and yet both are rapidly drifting further and further away. Bonbon doesn’t even notice that more tears are streaming down her cheeks until they start to fall onto the page below her. She clears them as she pushes her work aside and steels herself. She can’t keep spending her days shutting herself away in despair because of this.

This is just another challenge for her to overcome! She doesn’t know what to do, but she’s sure that there’s somepony out there with a solution. She’ll work hard with Lyra to make things right, and then she’ll speak to Anon. Her mind flashes back to when Anon and her were at the park. She remembers the pained look on his face as he spoke to her. He’s hurting just as much as she is and for now he’s put the ball in her court.

“Don’t worry, Anon... I’ll figure something out.”

With her thoughts and plans assured, Bonbon, returns her focus to her papers. It’ll take time but she swears that she’ll see Anon again, and soon.


End file.
